Do you think racial discrimination will ever cease to exist?

Racial discrimination will never cease to exist becauase it’s part of us, when someone is doing so well, we will jealous of them, so we will search to find something that they have and use it to against them to protect our pride.

The only way it will probably stop is if everybody in the future has a little bit of every race in them, and I’m sure that’s pretty much impossible, so it will most likely always be around.

Let’s see…

…no.

Why?

People are ignorant.

The only way that race will cease to be an issue is when people stop making it an issue.

Frankly, I think folks like Jessie Jackson and his ilk do more harm than they do good by continuing to “stir the pot” because they know that without the specter of racism they loose political clout.

No. It will just change forms. If we go extra-terrestrial all Earthlings will clump together in one corner at a party.

Yes.

We’ll always have personal prejudices, but I think they’ll become more and more personal, and less and less expansive, as time rolls on.

@YoBob – The problem with that argument is that it uses a groups reaction to perceived, even if non-existent, racial discrimination as justification for racial discrimination.

Although it’s natural for some people to react in that manner, the argument can’t ever be “once they stop making a big deal of it.” There’s not still discrimination because racial minorities are saying there is – there is because it’s independent of that, and where there’s more because of it, it’s not a justification for it – that’s the weak sauce. ;-)

@iamthemob
“it uses a groups reaction to perceived, even if non-existent, racial discrimination as justification for racial discrimination.”

Yes, I quite agree, and that is kind of the point. Until people quit looking under rocks for discrimination (where it is quite possibly non-existant) and quit using the group reaction (read “mom mentality”) to respond to perceived racism to gain political purchase, I believe that racism will continue to exist.

I am not saying that removing the politicization of racial issues will suddenly make all racism disappear. However, IMHO it would go a long way towards moving from a public consciousness that is constantly dwelling on race as an issue to one that views race as a non-issue.

So long as there are people, there will be racism to some extent… in whatever form it is labelled. We have a natural ability to not get along with each other, it’s our nature.. To find fault with each other. Call it racism call it bigotry or ignorance it’s a human condition…….
:-/

No it will not cease to exist. There will always be people who make race an issue. Some people think that just because they are a specific race that they are superior. No race is superior to another. That goes for whites, blacks, asians, hispanics, etc. Anyone who thinks one race is better than another is an moron.

As long as people can find something different about someone else there will always be hatred and discrimination. I find it always wrong but its a sorry fact people do not always want to be open and excepting to differences than themselves

Only if we blend so well that everyone can claim to be several races. But even then, we will find something else to unite different groups so we have something to fight against. Its in our nature to find something to bitch about. You would have to wean out the desire to be top dog. To be top dog you have to consider someone else not up to your ability or you would see them equal to you (which means your group is standard) or even better.

No. It’s not possible where people are involved

I have given up on things like that because society is full of bad people.

But it’s full of good people, too @Mikewlf337~

No. Sometimes it goes underground, but now that we have a black President, you can see that it just boiled up to the top again. Even with this super-intelligent, highly educated man, some people will never see past his race. And those people definitely think that whites are superior to blacks. They were taught that, they saw anecdotal evidence that it was true and nothing you can say will ever change their minds about it. No level of intelligence, compassion, rendering of service, educational degrees or anything else held by or accomplished by a black or brown or Asian person can change the mind of people who truly believe that the white race is superior. For them it’s just a fact, and they believe it on faith.

@Kardamom It’s kind of depressing…and embarrassing too.

@Dutchess_III Yes it is. You’d think that through education, we would be able to solve this problem. But when people have faith in something that is so hideously wrong (and divisive and threatening), there’s not much you can do about it.

@Dutchess_III I am sure that wether it be by race, religion, sexual preference, etc, people will find something wrong with what a person is rather than who they are.

It would be wonderful if it did but I doubt that would ever happen.

Only when human cease to exist.

I agree @Mikewlf337. Some people will.

Racism will forever and ever be a global issue.

And most of us fail trying not to be racist.

We need to try harder.

It’s possible but at this point seems unlikely.
By the way we don’t have actually have ‘black’ President.
Furthermore, we are all African Apes, as this ‘Kenyan’ explains.

I think it will as we get more and more integrated, except for a few idiots who no-one cares what they think…but this really isn’t my area.

It might never stop, but be hopeful anyways.

I don’t think so.

Never, People will not let it end.

As long as Oprah keeps saying black girls need more aid than others.
As long as Eddie Murphy calls blacks “nigger”,
As long as there is a black history month and no other “race related” month,
As long as NAACP supports only non-whites,
Ditto for the United Negro College Fund ,
As long as government forms for grants ask for race, sex, etc

Yes, it will cease to exist. I have seen great changes for the better in just my own lifetime. : ))

Never. Racial Discrimination will never truly end.
Racial discrimination doesn’t only happen in North America. It happens everywhere. You ask people of different races and they will tell you how racist their grandparents are or how racist people in their cultural generally are.
People are ignorant and they don’t want to change. It’s like asking, “would a hardcore religious fanatic ever change?” The answer is, NO. Because they don’t see what they’re doing wrong and have no intention of ever listening.

@DrBill has it occurred to you that all those things you mentioned exist because people who look like you got up one morning and decided that they were going to make the lives of people who look different hell and still continue to do so till this day?

You are talking as if the NAACP and the UNCF just magically decided to appear or as if little black girls enjoy being told that they are ugly and not worth love and treated as if they are the personal property of any man in the street.

Seriously, think about it. Those things exist for a reason: a lot of people who look like you are still joyfully indulging in racism against anybody who isn’t white or doesn’t look white.

@sugabelly Do you think white people enjoy being told that being born white is a transgression against the rest of the world that we have to spend the rest of our lives atoning for?

Do you think poor white people enjoy being told our struggles are irrelevant because we have ‘white privilege’?

If a woman says she prefers dating black men, no one has any problem with it and want to commend her for being open minded. If she says she prefers dating white men, she’s a racist. How do you think this makes white men feel?

I don’t agree with the points dr.bill is making, but your post highlights a problem with race as well: the current idea that racism is exclusively whites vs everyone else.

Amen @syzygy2600 !

At the moment I’m wondering just how I’m going to send my two fine young white boys to college (assuming that they can get accepted since they aren’t of a politically correct race or gender) in the absence of scholarships that are targeted at their particular demographic.

Yep, racism is alive and well. It’s just that it doesn’t fall along the politically correct lines that most people think it does.

@syzygy2600 Noone has ever told white people that being born white is a transgression so I don’t know where you got that from.

Also, as a white person you are still benefitting from racism even as I am typing this message and that is why all the systems that have been set up to correct the effects of racism exist. They do not exist to “punish” you. They exist because non-white people are being made to suffer every day of their lives for their non-white appearance (something that is no fault of their own).

Noone has said the difficulties of poor white people are irrelevant, but the fact still remains that even the poorest white person still has more social privilege than the average non-white person. If the poorest white person looked clean and at least decently dressed (simple shirt and simple trousers or skirt and simple pair of shoes nothing else) they can still walk into any high end store and not be followed around as if they might steal something at any moment. Alas! Not even well dressed non-white people can boast of the same amount of respect. Even if you can afford to buy the whole store and burn it to the ground just for fun, as long as you are not white (and God help you if you are black), the sales people will literally attach themselves to you with superglue because they are simply terrified that you will steal all the contents of the shop by merely breathing.

Also, if you are a non-white person, especially if you are a black person, you can rest assured that no matter how hard you have worked, no matter how smart you are, no matter how much you deserve to be in the college/job/position, etc that you are, people like @YoBob will chalk it up to Affirmative Action and assume that they are more deserving of whatever it is than you because of course! You only got into college/ got the scholarship/ got the job because you are black and got Affirmative Action at THEIR EXPENSE.

Newsflash: Affirmative Action benefits one group of people more than any other: WHITE WOMEN. They make up the VAST MAJORITY of Affirmative Action acceptees just so you know. Ironically and hilariously, they are among the NUMBER ONE complainers about Affirmative Action because most of them don’t realise that they too are beneficiaries of Affirmative Action. Thanks to their implicit racism, they wrongly believe that blacks or African Americans are the ones who get Affirmative Action. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I will say to @YoBob what I have said to other white people that I have heard complaining about Affirmative Action. If your two sons are intelligent enough, they will get into any college that they apply to. More importantly, if they are intelligent, they will get scholarships.

Take this from me, a person who absolutely cannot benefit from Affirmative Action. I am not an American, therefore, Affirmative Action or any other kind of American government aid or policy etc, is not applied to me. I attend a great American private university which I got into with a huge scholarship. (Note, I said SCHOLARSHIP not Financial Aid – non-Americans can’t get any kind of Financial Aid).

Why did I get the scholarship? Because I am smart. My SAT scores were very very high, and although they were considered low for students from my country, they were far above SAT scores for American students. My grades were good, my essays were great, I had a perfect score on my TOEFL, etc etc. That is why I got such a massive scholarship.

I didn’t get the scholarship because I was black. I didn’t get into the school because I was black. I got in on my own merit, and I deserve it 100%.

But guess what? My first week of school, a bunch of white students told me to my face that they were sure that I was only here because of Affirmative Action. Do you see how racist that assumption is? Who are you to look at somebody you know nothing about and decide in your head that YOU deserve to be there but that person doesn’t?

Those white students that said that to me were both racist and ignorant. They thought that because I was black I must be stupid or not as smart as them and the only way that I was able to get into a college with them was because of Affirmative Action – which I find hilarious because it doesn’t even apply to me. They also thought that I was poor. Again, shows how much they know.

Your worry should be on improving your children’s grades and not worrying about other people. Your children do not have a “reserved spot” in any university that some non-white boogeyman is going to “steal” with Affirmative Action. If your children DESERVE to be in that school based on their own MERIT they will get in. And if they DESERVE whatever scholarship based on their GRADES, they will get them.

90% of my school mates are in top schools in America all with hefty scholarships. Why? Because I went to the best school in all of Africa and my school regularly churns out high achieving students who go on to accomplish great things. It sounds conceited and I don’t mean to come off that way, but we’re all very intelligent and we all study hard and get great grades so we all deserve everything we get because we worked for it.

Nobody can come and tell me or any of my friends that we don’t deserve to be where we are. That is absolute rubbish.

Affirmative Action is not your problem. Racism just makes people refuse to acknowledge how far back you set non-white people in order to benefit yourselves. Now that it looks like the system is trying to help people come to an equal playing field, everyone is crying foul.

Affirmative Action is not perfect. I certainly believe that it can be greatly improved, but it absolutely is not unfair or racist against whites.

@sugabelly you deserve a great answer for all that typing :P

@Hibernate heh heh

@sugabelly

“if you are a non-white person, especially if you are a black person, you can rest assured that no matter how hard you have worked, no matter how smart you are, no matter how much you deserve to be in the college/job/position, etc that you are, people like @YoBob will chalk it up to Affirmative Action and assume that they are more deserving of whatever it is than you because of course! ”

Excuse me, but I am curious how you make the vast leap from “I am wondering how I am going to pay for college for my two white boys” to your accusation that I believe that any non-white person admitted to college or holding a good job is there only because of affirmative action?

You then to on to say:

“I will say to @YoBob what I have said to other white people that I have heard complaining about Affirmative Action. If your two sons are intelligent enough, they will get into any college that they apply to”

So, are you saying that non-white people are not intelligent enough to compete with white people on an equal footing and, therefore, need affirmative action to “level the playing field”?
Sounds pretty darned racist to me. Both my children are straight A students and I will put their test scores head to head against any child in the country, but the harsh reality is if my boys apply to a school that does not have the proper politically correct mix it is quite possible (perhaps even likely) they will be turned down even if they have superior test scores simply because of their race. Once again, sounds pretty racist to me. And what about those institutes of higher learning that cater to a specific race or gender. Seems to me that exclusion based on race and/or gender is exactly what we are supposedly striving to eliminate.

And, for the record, I am not in any way saying that you and your friends don’t deserve to be where you are (your words, not mine). I do, however, believe if we are ever going to eliminate race as a consideration, at some point we will simply have to quit using it as an admissions criteria. I believe that time has come. All I am asking for is the opportunity for my children to compete on an equal footing.

@YoBob Trying to twist my words and find “deeper meanings” in what I said won’t change anything so there’s no point.

It is not true that your sons will be turned down from a school because they are white if they are smart. If they are not smart that is a different story, but from what I have seen of the school admission process in America (and I have seen plenty for six years attending my boarding school), if you have the grades you will be rewarded, full stop.

And if you read what I said you will see that I said that Affirmative action exists because whites set non-whites so far back (by preventing them from going to school, or preventing their schools from getting good facilities, teachers, etc or preventing them from getting jobs that they qualified for, and so on) that there now has to be Affirmative Action to level the playing field.

The statement that Affirmative Action exists because non-whites are not as smart as whites came entirely from you @YoBob so if that is what you secretly think, at least admit it and stop trying to include it in what I said.

Since both of your children are straight A students, I will once again implore you to stop worrying because you have absolutely nothing to be worried about.

Affirmative Action or no Affirmative Action, at the end of the day, you will get what your grades say you deserve.

So stop worrying…. unless your children’s grades aren’t as great as you think… then you have something to worry about. Otherwise, have inner peace.

@sugabelly Your first statement right above mine is incorrect. I was denied admission to a particular University while a kid I knew in high school got in. I had more extracurricular activities than he did, I had a better GPA and SAT, both BY FAR. The difference? I checked “white” on the application and he checked “hispanic,” there was nothing better on his app than mine (I know this b/c we went to a very small, intimate school). And they didn’t do personal interviews, so what’s your guess as to why he got in and I didn’t?

I spoke to a person I knew at that time who worked in admissions for 5 universities and he flat out told me that checking “hispanic” on my application would give me better odds BY FAR. Guess what? The next app. I filled out, I checked off “hispanic” and that’s where I got my bachelor’s degree.

It is true, it happens, and this was only months after there was a big “thing” in the papers about the University system saying that they decided that Affirmative Action would not play a part in the particular year’s admissions.

@mrrich724 You were not on the admissions committee so you do not know that that is the reason.

Have you considered for even a moment that maybe his essay was better than yours?

I went to a small school, I proof-read his essay! I was in AP english, he was in regular, and that was the subject I excelled at. And even if his essay was better than mine, ALL other considered parts of my application had higher merit…

I gave this a lot of thought that week we received our acceptance letters. I got accepted to every university I checked “hispanic” for. I was denied from every one I selected “white” on.

An admissions person TOLD ME that even with the statement saying there would be no affirmative action that year, “unofficially” there would…

Choose to believe what sounds ideal rather than what sounds real if you so choose, but that was my experience.

For example, I am NOT an extra curricular activity person. You see all those perky people rushing off to this club or that committee? I hate them. I hate people like them that are always jumping up and down and smiling and being perky and being involved.

I honestly do not know where they get the energy from. I can’t stand things like that. I also was not the highest gpa in my grade/class. Far from it. By Nigerian standards, my scores were abysmal but by American standards they were far far above average and I ended up getting into a bunch of great schools with varying levels of scholarships.

But you never know just what it is that separates one candidate from another. Sometimes it comes down to something as trivial as what they think you’ll add to the on-campus atmosphere (I personally think that if I had been judged on this one I would never have gotten into school. There’s nothing I hate more than than “getting involved” in activities ).

You can’t just boil it down to “oh, I’m white so they didn’t take me”. Not true. Most universities in America are MAJORITY white. So are you trying to say that all the other white students in the university appeared there by magic?

and another thing. That year, there was a program for minorities with “less than stellar” grades. It was in the dorm next to mine. It was an openly-admittedly (by the university) program to help minorities with lower grades get a head start (it was a mandatory summer program if they wanted to attend fall).

I know quite a bit about it b/c I had a friend who I hung out with every day who was in the program. They all lived in one dorm for the summer as part of the program.

Now, I think it’s safe to say that schools have a limited number of seats to offer per class per semester. If there wasn’t affirmative action, all those seats would have been taken away from these kids who were openly described as having a disadvantage, and given to the ones who have the disparity in the education system working to their advantage.

People can say what they want, and make things sound all nice and ideal, but that doesn’t mean that’s what happens.

And if you don’t want to take my statement above (that I have a statement straight from an admissions employee), then what will it take for you to believe it? You just won’t no matter what.

It’s like the “birthers” who, even after seeing Obama’s birth certificate, don’t believe that Obama is a natural born citizen. They’ve made up their minds, and there is NOTHING that will change it, regardless of the logic.

Again, how did all the other white students that make up the majority of the school get there? Through the SAME admissions system. That’s how. They ended up in the school didn’t they? In spite of being white they even managed to make up the vast majority of the school’s students.

I’m sorry but this idea that white students are somehow being discriminated against by admissions because there is an active effort to include more non-white students just doesn’t hold water.

And what about legacy admissions? Most of the students that benefit from legacy admissions (especially at Ivy League colleges) who get admitted JUST BECAUSE their parents went there are white.

How come nobody thinks those students are stealing their spots in the admissions queue?

Affirmative action has been with us since the civil rights movements of the 1950’s. That’s 60 years! That’s at least 3 generations! Just how long do you think that we need to continue “leveling the playing field”?

Those affirmative action programs that you seem to so fervently support were intended as a form of restitution for minorities impacted by America’s checkered racial past. I am wondering exactly how those evil (American) white men impacted your family (you mentioned you aren’t American) and why you believe you require affirmative action programs, especially in light of your obvious intelligence.

I know you would like to ignore the facts because they are harsh and ugly, but affirmative action means setting aside spots in colleges and businesses reserved for “minority” races (Newsflash: white people make up less than 50% of the American population). LIke it or not, what that boils down to is that a white applicant can be academically head and shoulders above someone of a targeted demographic and the minority applicant will be admitted instead of the applicant with better credentials. That is what affirmative action is, and IMHO no matter how you slice it that is racism.

I think that Lucky Dube captured it well in his song Affirmative Action

@YoBob you are correct.

” Noone has ever told white people that being born white is a transgression so I don’t know where you got that from.”

Haha, seriously?

” If the poorest white person looked clean and at least decently dressed (simple shirt and simple trousers or skirt and simple pair of shoes nothing else) they can still walk into any high end store and not be followed around as if they might steal something at any moment. Alas! Not even well dressed non-white people can boast of the same amount of respect. Even if you can afford to buy the whole store and burn it to the ground just for fun, as long as you are not white (and God help you if you are black), the sales people will literally attach themselves to you with superglue because they are simply terrified that you will steal all the contents of the shop by merely breathing”

This is ridiculous for many reasons. First of all, you’re assuming that this experience would be the same anywhere. It might be a common experience for a black person in bumfuck Alabama, but would it be the same in Toronto, Chicago, or Munich? Probably not. And maybe in certain cases, there will be racist white store owners who will be suspicious of any black person who comes into their store. Does this mean all white people are racists trying to hold down black people? Of course not. It’s not my problem that some white people are racist anymore than the generalized problems in the black community are your problem. If you seriously believe that every time you walk into a store people think you’re going to steal something, I’d either advise you to move or to stop projecting your insecurities onto other people.

I also find it interesting that you make a point to mention that if the poor white person is decently dressed, they won’t be harassed. So discrimination based on appearance is perfectly acceptable, as long as it’s not the persons race thats the point of contention?

“But guess what? My first week of school, a bunch of white students told me to my face that they were sure that I was only here because of Affirmative Action. Do you see how racist that assumption is? Who are you to look at somebody you know nothing about and decide in your head that YOU deserve to be there but that person doesn’t?”

It is a racist assumption. Just like the racist assumption that all white people are plotting together to keep each other in power. Just like the racist assumption that if you’re white and successful, you MUST have been born rich, or been handed everything in life, because we all know no white person whose successful has ever worked hard, right? That’s racism too, whether you care to admit it or not.

@sugabelly

As long as anyone gives preference of one over another based on sex, color, or any other accident of birth discrimination will thrive. Even though you see no problem helping these little girls while their brothers continue to suffer. I think the ones in need should be helped, but they should all be helped, not given preference because they were born one sex over another.

and the propose of the NAACP is specifically to help their race, while denying others in need the help just because they were born the wrong color for their taste.

and the propose of the UNCF is to help people of one race while denying equally needy people who ‘s color does not meet their criteria

The ugly beast of discrimination will thrive as long as people support these bigots.

PS my ancestors will be amused you decided I am white.

@YoBob You said that white people make up less than 50% of the American population.

Please tell us where you are getting this information.

According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity

The demographics of the United States of America are as follows:

White alone – 72.4%

(you can check for all the other races with the link).

Whites make up more than 70% of the entire population of the United States. (And this refers to people that are just purely white. It does not include people who may have Hispanic blood but just LOOK White).

Please explain to us how you arrived at the conclusion that Whites make up less than 50% of the population in America.

@syzygy2600 You just illustrated my point that a lot of White people are BLIND to racism.

I have found that many white people in America are only able to identify racism if it is of the obvious sort.

For example, if somebody in a white hood went around killing black people and burning crosses on their lawns, I believe everybody here would be very quick to condemn that person as a racist.

However, when it comes to the most prevalent types of racism (subtle, implicit, and institutional racism), many if not most White people are either completely unable or have an extremely difficult time identifying the racism.

I do not blame you for this. After all, these types of racism arose originally to benefit you and to make your lives easier while simultaenously making the lives of others harder. It is not surprising then that you are mostly unable to notice it.

Let me explain it again, in as clear terms as I possibly can.

Organisations or institutions that exist to help minorities or that exist for minorities ONLY exist BECAUSE organisations or institutions set up by Whites either EXCLUDE minorities DELIBERATELY or make it EXTREMELY difficult for minorities to be included.

Just because for example the UNCF tells you “oh we can’t give you a scholarship because our scholarships are for black students” does not mean that the UNCF is discriminating against you.

The UNCF was set up BECAUSE nobody wanted to give scholarships to black students no matter how good they were BECAUSE THEY WERE BLACK. In other words, as a white student, you have all other avenues available to you, many of which are PERMANENTLY SHUT to students who are not white (usually due to implicit or instutional racism). That is why minorities have to actively set up such organisations because if minorities leave their welfare in the hands of whites, they will continue to suffer gross injustices.

For my second example, take BET (black entertainment television) and black women’s magazines like Essence. Let us put aside the fact that BET has presently descended to a level of crap programming (I don’t watch BET btw, I tried but I couldn’t). The programming on BET is not the point we are discussing here. It’s just an example.

BET exists because for the longest time, nobody would allow black people to act on television. Or even if they were allowed, they were always made to act in subservient roles or demeaning roles. BET was necessary to give black people a television channel where THEY could be the lead actors or the star or whatever because white owned channels would NEVER let them star or lead in any programs.

Even today, look at the top ten movies in America currently, I promise you that MOST of them have white actors as the lead or the stars. Look at the top ten tv shows in America, MOST of the cast of these shows are about 80% white if not more. Usually there is only one person of some other ethnicity in the cast as if they were just thrown in there at the last minute.

There are so many amazing non-white actors and actresses but most of them will NEVER get the chance to become A-list because lead roles are almost ALWAYS given to white actors and actresses.

Another example is foreign films. Many foreign films that have been adapted for the American audience deliberately change the lead actors from non-whites to whites. Avatar the Last Airbender is one such film. The ENTIRE cartoon series was about Asians. It was based ENTIRELY on ASIAN culture, with ASIAN characters, but when it came time to make the Hollywood movie, ALL the Asian characters were replaced with WHITE characters.

Another is Akira. Akira is an iconic JAPANESE cartoon but I think it’s coming out soon in America and guess who is playing the lead? A white boy.

Does this mean there are NO ASIANS in America? No it doesn’t. All it means is that racism will never allow them to star as the lead actor in these movies even when it is a movie about an ASIAN person in an ASIAN country.

I mean, I don’t know how I can explain this to you so that you can see. Racism is not dead. it is ALIVE AND WELL in America. It is EVERYWHERE and in EVERY aspect of American life. You just don’t see it because it is DESIGNED for you not to notice because it was never meant to affect YOU.

Essence magazine exists ONLY because white owned magazines almost NEVER put black women in their magazines. Or if they did they would put only ONE.

Go flip through ANY issue of Vogue magazine and count the number of white models you see and count the number of black models you see.

I can promise you two things:

Number 1: There will be at least three times the number of white models than black models.

Number 2: The black models will be one or more of the following people:

Naomi Campbell
Alek Wek
Selita Ebanks
Oluchi Onweagba
Atok Ajong
Chanel Iman
Jourdan Dunn
Sessilee Lopez
Iman
Tyra Banks

That’s it. They are so few that I could name them all. These are pretty much the only black models that are “allowed” in white magazines. Black women are never celebrated in white magazines unless their names are Halle Berry (half white), Beyonce (possibly quarter or one eighth white) or Oprah Winfrey (so rich and powerful that it doesn’t matter anymore).

And as for you thinking that black shoppers are only harassed in places like Alabama, you’re wrong. It happens EVERY day. In EVERY state in America. In so-called “open minded” places. It happens all the time. The only difference is that it just doesn’t happen to you. Or people who look like you. That is why you think that it can only happen in places like Alabama.

And as for my comment on decent clothes. That is not discrimination. ALL Human beings are wired to prefer interacting with someone who is clean (or at least APPEARS clean) rather than dirty. This is simply the biology of evolutionary disease avoidance behaviour. It has nothing to do with discrimination. A person who APPEARS dirty is off putting because you subconsciously associate dirt or filth with disease and your mind and body has a hardwired evolutionary imperative to avoid sources of disease in order to increase your chances of survival.

In other words, I said that to establish a baseline. Any white person in clean clothes no matter how simple, that appears clean, no matter how unembellished even if they are poor can walk into even a high end store. That is what I meant. Stop trying to squeeze discrimination out of everything I say. There isn’t any. All people prefer cleanliness to dirtiness.

1) I’m not American

2) You don’t know me, don’t know how I grew up, or anything else about my life, so don’t tell me what I have and have not experienced.

3) I would prefer if Akira was made with a Japanese actor. But if the Japanese decided to make a live action film of The Simpsons, I’m sure they would be played by Japanese actors. And I wouldn’t really care, to be honest, because I have more important things to worry about. The point I’m making is that everyone feels a certain affinity to people of their own race, whether they want to admit it or not. This is encouraged and seen as normal, unless you’re white.

4) So people who can’t afford to have clean, nice clothing deserve to be discriminated against?

5) Get over yourself. Just because you’re black doesn’t give you the right to tell everyone else what they can and can’t say and what they have or have not experienced in their life.

@sugabelly – Oops, I mispoke. What I meant to say was that whites make up less than 50% of the population of Texas, the state from which I hail. According to this article, current census data puts whites at a mere 45% of the population of this state.

In any case, the percentages are irrelevant. Using race as a criteria in college admissions or company hiring practices is racist regardless of the demographic mix in your particular area. IMHO the sooner that things like racist affirmative action policies cease the sooner we can start to realize Dr. Kings dream of a world where people are judged by the depth of their character and not the color of their skin.

So, while we are on the subject of clarification, If you believe, like I do that people of all races can and should be competing based on merit alone, then why do you believe there is a need to include race at all (which is what affirmative action does) in admissions and hiring policies?

Also, can you please share with us why you believe that admissions policies that favor politically correct demographics over academic merit (which is what affirmative action does) are anything other than racist.

@syzygy2600

You might not be American, but you are still white. Same difference.

I never said that the experience applied directly to you in particular but that it applies to whites in general.

Yes, the Japanese would probably make the simpsons with Japanese actors but everybody in Japan is Japanese.

Everybody in America is not white. You are overlooking that difference. There are Asians in America so why can’t THEY be the ones to have the lead roles in an Asian film. Why must the white Americans be the ones to star in the film?

Again, I never once said that people without clean clothes should be discriminated against. I simply said that most people prefer to interact with people who are clean.

Is this not the basis of why we bathe every day? Because we all agree that we all like to be clean? If you do not like to be clean maybe you should stop bathing then. I do not see how you can link this to discrimination.

I never told you that you can say A but you cannot say B. I simply pointed out the racism in what you were saying. Did I tell you that because what you said is racist I am going to use my needle and thread to sew up your mouth? No.

There is after all, freedom of speech. You are free to say whatever you like just as I am equally free to point out that what you are saying is racist.

@YoBob I see. Okay, well as for Texas, even if Whites make up just 45% of the people in the state, they are still the majority population in Texas. The remaining 55% of the people in Texas is divided into African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc. So for simplicity’s sake, let’s just say that the rest of the people in the state were African American, Asian and Hispanic (let’s forget about Middle Easterners, Africans, and co for a moment).

Let’s assume that these three groups have equal populations for simplicity’s sake. Divide 55% by three. You get about 18.3% for each group.

There are still more Whites than Asians in Texas. There are still more Whites than African Americans in Texas, and there are still more Whites than Hispanics in Texas.

It is true that if you want to split it along White versus Non-White lines in Texas then I agree with you, Whites are in the minority in Texas (albeit a very slim minority).

However, you cannot group the remaining people in Texas into one majority because none of those groups identify jointly with each other. They are all separate groups, and of all the separate groups in Texas, Whites are still the majority.

And you will find that in most states that have I think it’s called minority majority (i may be wrong) – states where Whites are less than 50% of the state population, you will still find that Whites are STILL the majority in those states.

All it means is that their majority is no longer by 50 or more percent.

Martin Luther King’s Dream was exactly that: a DREAM. Unfortunately, dreams don’t take into account realities like the fact that employers are more likely to trash the resumes/applications of perfectly qualified applicants once they see a name that “sounds black” to them.

Or that most of the people who are drug abusers in America are white (i mean all sorts of drug abusers including prescription drug abusers) but most of the people who are blamed, victimised, arrested and punished severely for anything related to drugs are Hispanic and African American.

Or that black women are constantly told that they are ugly, masculine, etc etc and then heaped with abuse and told that they are “strong” and can take it while white women are treated like they are made of cotton wool and might break into pieces at any moment.

Or that perfectly intelligent and deserving black students are constantly suspected of not deserving their positions and are constantly asked to prove that they have a right to be where they are, while perfectly unintelligent white students who are only there because their daddy or their uncle or their mommy went to the school before them are never questioned about their credentials or asked to prove that they have a right to be there.

Or that the black president that every white person is so quick to tout and parade as evidence that racism has disappeared is probably the most insulted, disrespected, abused, and scorned president in American history. He is constantly asked to prove that he has a right to be President and asked to show his credentials or birth certificate or whatever.

It is interesting that nobody accused all the white presidents that stood by and perpetuated gross racism against non-whites of being the AntiChrist but the MOMENT America has a black president, everybody begins to remember the end of the world and the AntiChrist and goodness knows what else.

The first lady of America has suffered more insults and rudeness from Americans than any other American first lady in history. Yet once you mention racism, white Americans quickly scream Obama as if his existence is mutually exclusive the to the existence of racism.

Well, I’m not American. This is not my country so I don’t even know why I am spending so much energy talking about this.

At least, I am fortunate that at the end of the day, if the racism here gets too much for me, or if the demeaning way I am treated here becomes too much, I can always go to my country where at least I can walk through the streets with my head held high and know that I am a human being.

The people I really pity are all the non-white people who have no choice but to live in America maybe because their ancestors came here hundreds of years ago and they no longer have any ties to their original country.

Those are the people that my heart bleeds for because nobody should have to be treated the way non-white people are treated in this country. And the white people here are so oblivious to it all, oblivious to the things they do every single day that are so wrong and make other people suffer a thousand indignities.

I really wish you could go to another country and be treated the way you treat people here so that it would open your eyes and you could see but unfortunately there really is no country in this world as it is today that could be so thoroughly racist and oppressive to whites as they are to others in the countries where they are the majority.

If only you could experience it, it would really help you. I think I will not contribute any more to this particular thread. I am tired. I just realised that no amount of explanation will make any of you understand.

This is my last comment on this thread. I just wanted to respond to and clarify something @YoBob said.

I am not and have never been a beneficiary of Affirmative Action as I am not an American. I said this many times in my previous comments but I think you might have missed it.

I also never said that I particularly supported Affirmative Action. What I DID say was that Affirmative Action and other similar programs are NECESSARY because institutional racism continues to disadvantage minorities.

Everything I got, I got by my own merit. However, from an outsider’s point of view, based on what I have observed since coming here, I must say that Affirmative Action is necessary and is not harming whites in any way shape or form.

Affirmative action sucks.

“You might not be American, but you are still white. Same difference.”

And with this one sentence, you have proven yourself as ignorant and racist. Well done, nothing else needs to be said.

@syzygy2600 whatever. you are free to believe whatever you want to believe as i am free to have my opinion.

White people come from a very diverse array of countries, regions, and backgrounds. If you were half as smart as you think you are, you would know that. But don’t let logic or facts interfere with the chip on your shoulder.

As long as everyone wants to assume that everyone else’s actions come from a place of racism rather than regular stupidity or whatever (the person flicking you off might not be being it because you’re ______, but because you almost ran them over with your car in the parking lot), we won’t go anywhere.

@syzygy2600 @YoBob people with @sugabelly ‘s mentality are truly the ones who keep racism not only alive, but THRIVING.

You know, I dated a black guy off and on for a long time. He was born in 1952 in Selma, Alabama, and lived there until he got a college basketball scholarship to a school here in Kansas. At one point he was talking about the influx of Asians. He said “They don’t belong here because they aren’t American!”...or something like that.
I said, “Who do you consider ‘American’?”
He said, “White people!”
I was flabbergasted….sometimes racism keeps itself alive through non-thinking habit.
This is a true story. And one big reason why it was more off than on again.

@mrrich724 you tell ‘em

this girl is Nigerian. I’m sure you think she is stealing your admissions spot in Harvard too.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/piscataway_15-year-old_girl_he.html

@sugabelly whoever thinks that girl steals his/her spot is wrong.

If one doesn’t get accepted at a college it’s his/her fault. [ because they did not get elected ]

@sugabelly I’m not American, so I don’t really care who the fuck goes to Harvard in all honesty.

@syzygy2600 The fact that you felt the need to swear shows that you DO care.

@sugabelly Look back over all my posts in this topic. I never said anything about colleges, university, and the placements of black students in them. Thats you being racist and assuming that all white people are out to get you. Go a head and read my posts again, since you obviously only read what you want to take out of them. You’re getting me and Yobob mixed up. Then again, I’m not really surprised, since we’re both white I’m sure a racist like you thinks we share a hive mind or something equally retarded like that.

Aw shucks @syzygy2600, don’t you know we all look alike… ;)

NO.. it will never cease to exist.

Because face it .. life is easier when you just live among your own kind.

You don’t have to adapt . You don’t have to try to understand.

And some people just prefer that. And that attitude is often perceived as Racist.

Personally I think that it is sad some people are like that but that is just the way life is.

I am from a mixed background so I will never understand what it is like to be of one race.

To everyone who answered, thank you. I appreciate your opinion on this subject.
I wanted to get an idea if the majority of people really believed racism could be cured… so, thank you for participating :)

Seriously, some people are racist within their own culture as well as outside of it.