The realities of being a black male in America.
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You got raped? Don't you know that babies in South Africa are being raped every day? Get over it. You should be glad you didn't get raped at a younger age!
jordan0386
Member
Underlying theme of this is being trained on how to 'behave' in public. Yawn.
Black men have to worry more about making less babies and providing for our babies.
I walk NYC with my chin high. Not into criminal activity, so I got nothing to worry about.
*Always carry ID though*
Black men have to worry more about making less babies and providing for our babies.
I walk NYC with my chin high. Not into criminal activity, so I got nothing to worry about.
*Always carry ID though*
jordan0386
Member
City or suburb upbringing?
City.
Nobody said you were lying, but telling people to "stop crying" is dumb as hell.
Also, calling someone black is not awful in the USA. The word "negro" is an outdated slur in an english context.
So maybe instead of telling people to stop crying you should try and learn something about a subject you know nothing about.
I think we're losing each other a bit lol
But we're pretty much on the same page. Most people don't look at a black man and try to establish what neck of the woods he came from in the same way that people don't immediately do the same with white people. Its not just American white people either.
whoa there buddy
that makes entirely too much sense
The realities of being white in america...
You have no idea how many times I've been walking down the street next to a black person, when a bum comes up to ME, not the black person, and starts harassing me for change. Happens 100% of the time.
We're all racially profiled, and it is all rooted in fact. I bet you anything white people are far more likely to give a bum money. And I bet you anything a Walgreens has to chase off more thieves with black skin than white. (this is based on personal experience, since I have seen many, many black people chased out Walgreens here in the bay area for just that reason)
Yeah, truth hurts, and it's unfair to the individual (personally I don't give money to bums, though I do volunteer at a food bank) but we have to look within our own souls and those of our communities and stop playing the 'racism' card, because that's just passing blame. Don't raise a thief and maybe in a generation we won't see news pieces like this.
Now bring on the spiteful retorts, GAF.
You have no idea how many times I've been walking down the street next to a black person, when a bum comes up to ME, not the black person, and starts harassing me for change. Happens 100% of the time.
We're all racially profiled, and it is all rooted in fact. I bet you anything white people are far more likely to give a bum money. And I bet you anything a Walgreens has to chase off more thieves with black skin than white. (this is based on personal experience, since I have seen many, many black people chased out Walgreens here in the bay area for just that reason)
Yeah, truth hurts, and it's unfair to the individual (personally I don't give money to bums, though I do volunteer at a food bank) but we have to look within our own souls and those of our communities and stop playing the 'racism' card, because that's just passing blame. Don't raise a thief and maybe in a generation we won't see news pieces like this.
Now bring on the spiteful retorts, GAF.
Maybe I was misinterpreting you. It seemed like you were saying that culturally white Americans were about the same. And yeah, there are massive differences within other cultures. I've lived in the Caribbean, and English black Caribbean culture (which isn't itself monolithic) is very different from the various forms of black culture in the US. Even where I went to college in the States "country" and "city" black people were miles apart culturally. Sometimes I think white people don't see just how diverse black culture is in the US.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
I love the amount of rationalizations from some white people - and the occasional Asian, in these threads.
The harsh truth is that most white Americans will literally never experience real racism in their lives. Oh yes, they might get called cracker by some black kid in school and be beaten up for it and think they are the white versions of Rosa Parks on the bus because of that individual experience. I'm sure some of you have black friends, dated Asian women and voted Obama. Don't worry, I'm not saying you're like the scary KKK bogeymen of old, but if you can wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and find a way to equate you being treated shittily back when you were 16 and in high school to the same as the black experience in America, than you're ignorant.
It's just the way it is. I can't say I blame them - white America only experiences racism via second hand accounts or through individual experiences. As a man, I used to doubt the existence of male privledge for this very reason - I never experienced any sexism in my life except for second hand accounts by my female friends.
I got nothing else to say in this thread.
The harsh truth is that most white Americans will literally never experience real racism in their lives. Oh yes, they might get called cracker by some black kid in school and be beaten up for it and think they are the white versions of Rosa Parks on the bus because of that individual experience. I'm sure some of you have black friends, dated Asian women and voted Obama. Don't worry, I'm not saying you're like the scary KKK bogeymen of old, but if you can wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and find a way to equate you being treated shittily back when you were 16 and in high school to the same as the black experience in America, than you're ignorant.
It's just the way it is. I can't say I blame them - white America only experiences racism via second hand accounts or through individual experiences. As a man, I used to doubt the existence of male privledge for this very reason - I never experienced any sexism in my life except for second hand accounts by my female friends.
I got nothing else to say in this thread.
News piece? Are you talking about the Trayvon case?
And I'm sure you've been so hurt by the racism you experience with bums asking you for money. It's so sad...
Uhh I'm talking about the news piece referenced in the OP. I'm not talking about Tray. Come on now.
Yeah, I know. It's so hilarious right! Since white people in the USA don't have to deal with systemic racism, they just can't reason it at all. I know, I know. I never said the two examples were of equal gravity. To find such an example I'd probably have to live in a different cultural atmosphere.
I'm a little more Bill Cosby than I am Al Sharpton, that's all. Or better yet: Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Based on the rest of your "enlightened" post I don't think it was reaching too far.
The whole "That bum asked me for money instead of the black guy! IM APPALLED AT THIS RACISM TOWARDS WHITES" part is what set off my yukiko-chan laughter :3
You only have to reach to the OP. Maybe you shouldn't read multiple threads at once if you're so easily confused.
Well, it is racism. Just on a level that is more of an annoyance than life-altering. The point is we all know that everyone is stereotyped, and if you don't like the stereotypes it is more to do with those that caused the stereotype and perpetuate it than those who are recognizing it. Both are to blame, but can you only blame one side? IMO, no.
And maybe you should realize your ridiculous level of willful ignorance you are more than happy to display in this thread.
Based on your great analysis, I and many others are the reason black people were enslaved and have to go up against systematic racism. If only we weren't all criminals America wouldn't be the way it is and everyone would be equal.
I really hope for your sake that you're joking. Nobody is this stupid.
ChuyMasta
Member
Yeah I'm pretty racist...passive racist.
Whenever I go somewhere, first thing I look at is the people. How physically fit are they? How clean, how much they invest in their looks. What are they doing? What are they drinking/eating? How do they dress? What accents do they have? What dialects? How do they talk? With all that data, I quickly judge.
If anything feels uncomfortable, I leave. For better or worse, there's a strong correlation with what/where I feel comfortable and socioeconomic status. This keeps reinforcing my mind with "the more money they have, the better they are" This is horrible, but this is the correlation I see. Media doesn't help either. The whiter someone is, the more likely he/she is to have more money. Which means, he/she is better. If the color gradient (Black to white) correlation is not followed, my mind makes excuses to keep reinforcing my previous perception. Ohh, he is rich but he is black, he must be doing something illegal. Ohh, he is white but poor, I am sure he will work his way up there. (Throw anything you want in between).
Again, movies, corporations, society, work placement etc keep reinforcing this mentality.
I fight this first instinct, so I don't act on any of this. But it's there.
Whenever I go somewhere, first thing I look at is the people. How physically fit are they? How clean, how much they invest in their looks. What are they doing? What are they drinking/eating? How do they dress? What accents do they have? What dialects? How do they talk? With all that data, I quickly judge.
If anything feels uncomfortable, I leave. For better or worse, there's a strong correlation with what/where I feel comfortable and socioeconomic status. This keeps reinforcing my mind with "the more money they have, the better they are" This is horrible, but this is the correlation I see. Media doesn't help either. The whiter someone is, the more likely he/she is to have more money. Which means, he/she is better. If the color gradient (Black to white) correlation is not followed, my mind makes excuses to keep reinforcing my previous perception. Ohh, he is rich but he is black, he must be doing something illegal. Ohh, he is white but poor, I am sure he will work his way up there. (Throw anything you want in between).
Again, movies, corporations, society, work placement etc keep reinforcing this mentality.
I fight this first instinct, so I don't act on any of this. But it's there.
Devolution
Member
Is every white guy the unibomber?
Crumpet Trumpet
Banned
damn someone thinks I have spare change
welp, my day is ruined, thanks obama
welp, my day is ruined, thanks obama
timetokill
Banned
Wasn't that how his campaign went?
"Change! Ask for it on every street corner, outside every convenience store! Change, just outside the movie theatre!"
I don't see the big deal about judging someone based on their looks or accent, it's incredibly shallow though.
This is a terrible mentality to have. It's prevalent in Asian countries where the lighter your skin is, the more attractive and rich you are to other people. If you have darker skin, then that means you are poor because you have an outdoor job like tending the fields or selling food at the outdoor marketplace. Whitening soaps and medicines are typically used to make it seem like you are an aristocrat. My aunt actually drank prescribed medicine from Asia to become lighter, it disgusted me that she had to do that to become more accepted by society over there.
I don't know man, I liked "i see black people getting chased out of walgreens therefore black people must be stealing from walgreens" but that might just be my insane enjoyment of logical fallacies (not to be mistaken for logical phalluses. at all. ever)
I've been looking a little Ted Kaczynski lately. I could use a trim. And some sleep. Maybe I should stop staying up late mailing bombs to people :l
That's cool, you can call me ignorant just because I have an opinion you don't like. White people are all too aware of history, thanks (well, you know, except for those that don't). There's this little thing called white guilt we are christened with at birth, it's kinda like a Saint Bernard barrel collar. It gets tied on and displayed everywhere you go
It's pretty much the entire reason James Cameron made Avatar. But surely I jest. And often.There you go with your "reaching" again. I have no idea what you do with your free time... apart from playing video games like the rest of us. You don't get to put words in my mouth. I think my original statements were pretty fair, actually.
That's cool, you can call me ignorant just because I have an opinion you don't like. White people are all too aware of history, thanks (well, you know, except for those that don't). There's this little thing called white guilt we are christened with at birth, it's kinda like a Saint Bernard barrel collar. It gets tied on and displayed everywhere you go
There you go with your "reaching" again. I have no idea what you do with your free time... apart from playing video games like the rest of us. You don't get to put words in my mouth. I think my original statements were pretty fair, actually.
Is it? Your original statment was:
Are you not blaming the victim here? Are you not saying that black people are at fault for the negative stereotypes that are brought against them?
Devolution
Member
The answer to dealing with racism is obvious dude, stop raising drug dealers and crackheads.
I guess they chase away potential customers for the hell of it. I'm just stating what I see with my eyes and what I hear from the employees. For my purposes, it was a one-off example. But of course, this is an internet message board... how could I be so foolish as to think people wouldn't pick at every word, and quote it in whatever context best fits a particular argument.
The stuff in the OP sucks and is true. To a far lesser extent, I can relate in that I have quite a few tattoos. That generally has security guards give me the stare down whenever I walk in a store, and they tend to keep an eye on me. Usually leads to "random" screenings by TSA as well.
Wat. From my own experience I have to heartily disagree. I've lost count how many times I have been judged to be a nazi solely based upon my German accent and living in the Netherlands. Please note that a) I don't look like a skinhead at all, I always had mid-length hair, b) that it most definitely not my political orientation and c) I would never make such statements, even as a jest, in order to avoid that label.
Nevertheless, without any bloody provocation, I have time-and-time again received the wonderful nickname of Hitler, Nazi or some variation of that when i attempted to participate in some Dutch sport clubs at a younger age. And speaking German with friends while walking through the street also has a decent chance of provoking something akin to "fucking nazi" (rotmof).
Eventually after many years of frustration I simply withdrew from interacting with Dutch people and got myself a very multicultural group of friends where, luckily, no such discrimination took place, between any of the different cultural/language backgrounds.
Nowadays the frequency of being verbally assaulted for daring to speak German in public is luckily lower than it used to be and it's usually very apparent who is going to make those disparaging statements - its usually the people with the trashy look.
Nevertheless, stilll the first question I get posed 9/10 times I make a new Dutch acquaintance is if I'm from Germany and there is usually this thickly veiled look of suspicion in their eyes, but usually after several meetings this goes away... As such the situation has definitely improved - so I hope that this discrimination everywhere is only, at worst, a matter of time, which, of course, does not mean that it should not be actively combatted to the fullest.
However I also reject the idea of a discriminationless world for white people. Having never lived in the USA things might be very different here, but in Europe there are still quite a bit of tensions.
So can I take it that this whole "melting pot" story is more fiction that fact and is only 'feel good' propaganda?
Then what are you trying to say then? Are you saying that it's a well mannered black person's fault that other black people (who he probably never met before) stole from a store and therefore it's okay for him to get stereotyped since it's his race's fault?
That's the thing... the context of your post was hard to make out so of course people are going to pick at what you said.
Karsticles
Member
If by "melting pot" you mean a bunch of people from really different cultural backgrounds all hanging out together as friends, then yes, it's bullshit. If you just mean that the USA has a lot of different cultures within it, then it's certainly accurate. Various cultures tend to self-segregate into pockets of society, though. For example, pretty much every major city here has a "China town" filled with Chinese immigrants. Some cities have a lot of Israelis, some have a lot of Dutch, etc. The self-segregation also takes place regarding beliefs. Homosexuals tend to aggregate in certain cities, people tend to choose states based on political beliefs, etc.
Excuse me for my ignorance. I've never lived anywhere but the USA, and having an accent over here isn't really all that big of a deal. I agree with you in your case.
Pretty much this.
Okay yeah that makes sense. Thanks for the insight, I guess it is all about awareness really.
empty vessel
Member
He is saying exactly that, i.e., that black people are viewed suspiciously because they disproportionately commit crimes. It is empirically true that black persons disproportionately commit theft, but we have to go further and ask why that is. According to Zulithe, it is because black persons raise their children to be thieves more than white persons do. I would be curious what Zulithe thinks it is about black people that causes them to do this more than white people.
That's what I was taught in highschool, together with the American Dream. I guess that's another illusion dead and down for the count.
There's absolutely no reason to apologize whatsoever
. Things truly work so very differently in other parts of the world, just like I was/am still filled with certain "romantic" notions...Devolution
Member
My group is a melting pot. Your melting pots are pretty regional and usually on the coasts.
Karsticles
Member
I don't think the American Dream is dead, it's just much harder to accomplish in this day and age. Overall, I think people just want to whine a lot instead of work for it, though. I'm the first person in my mother's family to have a degree. You can move up if you want to, but a lot of people aren't willing to make certain kinds of sacrifices (understandably). Personally, I have almost $70,000 in student loan debt.
The term "melting pot" doesn't mean "sometimes people of different backgrounds come together here". I think that's guaranteed no matter where you live in the world.
Devolution
Member
They don't just come together where I am, they eat, live, drink and fuck together.
That sounds more like a commune that holds orgies than a melting pot.
Everybody has a choice. If someone becones a criminal its because of their decisions,
period.
empty vessel
Member
Why do black people choose crime more than white people?
Oh man, the amount of butthurt from some people is sad. They even spread it to other threads! It's always the same group of people too. Sad that a person can't have a different point of view on these forums without being ridiculed, or attempted to be at least.
You can have good discussions with people that don't see the world in the same light as you do! Till then, close-minded people gonna be close-minded.
You can have good discussions with people that don't see the world in the same light as you do! Till then, close-minded people gonna be close-minded.
talking to yourself is a form of psychosis
hahahahah oh wow, you actually believe that don't you?
Ask black people.
Whatever their reasons it is still a choice.
If they choose crime its on them - no one else.
Heyo, there's one.
Actually, when people responded to me, I read what they wrote and gave my opinion while taking in theirs. But you didn't read anything, so it doesn't matter anyways.
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