psychoslice
Veteran Member
Black or white, or even green, there will always be idiots.
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Black people, stop embarrassing yourselves!
- Thread starter Saint Frankenstein
- Start date
There are actually half-white/black Americans in Germany.
And you can even eat them.
The old world wins again.
Hey, you took a bite from the black half... that's racist
Watch it buddy, the greens have nothing to do with this.
(slowly hides his thumb)
Feel free to make one about white people acting stupid en masse again and again. *shrugs*
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Yes, white people have made many mistakes, but you see, by saying that, the same as saying black people makes mistakes hits us right in the guts because of our skin, I believe we have to see beyond our skin colour, if we don't we will always be fighting over our stupid skin colour and never seeing what we really are lol.
Well, as long as things like the rioting and looting in Baltimore happen, people will won't be able to move on from race issues. This is just going to make more people racist towards black people. You should see the comments on articles about this.
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Yes and I can see how you are feeling, I would also feel the same way if they were white because that just not me, and its not you, so try to not let it get to you, you are beyond all that crap.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Back when doing my undergrad work in the 1960's, I took a course in race relations, and one of the books we had to read was one entitled "Soulside", which was written after a study by a Swedish anthropologist who came to America to try and figure out why there's so much hostility in this country over race. There's a series of reasons, but let me focus in on one of them for a minute.
When you have an element that grows up with the feeling they have no future, other priorities tend to take the place. The author noted that this was the feeling of all too many, right or wrong, within the poor black community. They see other poor black kids graduating from high school, and yet they can't find a job. Many can't go on to college because they can't afford it. Immediate gratification then tends to take priority over delayed gratification. Middle and upper-income whites, especially the white police, tend to be viewed with suspicion, and are often perceived as enemies.
In the 1960's, I worked for Chrysler for one summer, Ford for two summers. G.M. for one summer, and the DPW for two summers. These were good paying jobs, and all I had to do was to walk in and fill out the applications, although some pull at times helped. Can young people do this today? Instead of using computers and machinery to help all of us, instead they were used to cut jobs, thus separating the middle class and hurting the lower income and the parts of the middle income population that slipped downward. This has affected not only lower-income blacks, but also lower-income whites and also many middle-income whites, including adults, that are struggling.
Does this somehow excuse the riots we see in Baltimore? Of course not. But we have to realize the frustration that not only many blacks have, but also many whites as well. And yet we continue to roll on, allowing more and more of the wealth to go to the top while both lower and middle income struggle and frustration sets in. Instead of working hard to try and create more jobs, we have laws that actually favor not creating new jobs and/or shipping them out of the country.
If we don't work on doing something about this, then there's going to be a lot of "Baltimores" in our future,
When you have an element that grows up with the feeling they have no future, other priorities tend to take the place. The author noted that this was the feeling of all too many, right or wrong, within the poor black community. They see other poor black kids graduating from high school, and yet they can't find a job. Many can't go on to college because they can't afford it. Immediate gratification then tends to take priority over delayed gratification. Middle and upper-income whites, especially the white police, tend to be viewed with suspicion, and are often perceived as enemies.
In the 1960's, I worked for Chrysler for one summer, Ford for two summers. G.M. for one summer, and the DPW for two summers. These were good paying jobs, and all I had to do was to walk in and fill out the applications, although some pull at times helped. Can young people do this today? Instead of using computers and machinery to help all of us, instead they were used to cut jobs, thus separating the middle class and hurting the lower income and the parts of the middle income population that slipped downward. This has affected not only lower-income blacks, but also lower-income whites and also many middle-income whites, including adults, that are struggling.
Does this somehow excuse the riots we see in Baltimore? Of course not. But we have to realize the frustration that not only many blacks have, but also many whites as well. And yet we continue to roll on, allowing more and more of the wealth to go to the top while both lower and middle income struggle and frustration sets in. Instead of working hard to try and create more jobs, we have laws that actually favor not creating new jobs and/or shipping them out of the country.
If we don't work on doing something about this, then there's going to be a lot of "Baltimores" in our future,
Can I find "black community" on Google Maps?
I've driven across the country numerous times, visited nearly every major city, and not once did I ever see a sign that said "You are now entering the Black Community."
Even if there was, as far as I can tell, they're under the same government and legal principles as the rest of the country. If they had the sovereignty and self-rule of an independent country, that might be different, but such is not the case in America.
...and the YMCA doesn't have a place for young men to stay anymore. Hotels are expensive. Rent is high, and pay is low. If you get lost or have difficulty in your career, you are in for a lot of rejection. Cities are fining people for not having a place to stay or for loitering. New cities are cold and designed to have no place to go unless you have lots of $$. They are designed to keep poor people away. New suburbs are deserts full of houses. Even the streets of new cities are designed with nowhere to park. Old cities are more friendly, believe it or not. I'd sooner face a city of tall buildings and dark alleys than to hike through a neighborhood of cut grass (not that either of those is a good idea). Forget finding summer employment that pays enough to live by yourself. The thing to do nowadays if you are poor is to move out of your expensive apartment into a van and get a membership at a gym (to have access to showers). Pretend not to be poor or you will be unwelcome wherever you go. Appear to be poor and you will be feared.
If that is what its like to be poor now in the USA what message does that send to black folks, I wonder? Many black families were not allowed to do well until a few decades ago. Naturally they are going to feel like they are being excluded, because they are. So while there is no excuse for rioting, there is also no excuse for poor city planning.
You're being silly now and if not you are missing the point completely.
"Depending on whom you ask, the question of what most defines the African American community varies. Some will point to strides made toward racial integration. Others will point to the establishment of our own culture, traditions, and institutions that distinguish us from other races. And depending on whom you engage in this debate, most will admit, there are significant cultural and class divisions among African Americans. Creating a sense of community among African Americans is challenging, but imagine attempting this when the prevalent identifier was slavery."
What Is Black Community? | Urban Faith
If you are a white guy you need so some serious reading about the cultural divide.
If you are a black guy I'm at a total loss as to how to help you identify with your roots.
You could read:
A Nation within a Nation by John Ernest.
The black community is literally a nation within this nation.
African Americans have separated themselves from white society in spite of well meaning efforts of
white politicians to intigrate society.
Tell you what you could do as an experiment.
Get yourself a $900 buck suit of clothes, wear a Rolex, park your Beamer ouside a corner store deep
in the hood of Youngstown Ohio, get out, enter the store, buy some goods with $100 dollar bills
and very soon you will fully understand "Black Community", cultural divide, racial hate and criminal intent.
A Caveat: NO WEAPONS allowed. If you carry a gun for defense from some perceived threat you will be
killed instantly just to get your gun.
Wirey
Fartist
Did you ever see one that said any community? What a specious statement. And if they're under the same legal principles as the rest of the country, why do the cops keep killing them without a trial?
Well, nobody can change their race or skin color to fix the immediate issues, so good luck with that if you still want to focus solely on race.
The problem lies with culture, proverty, injustice, inequalities, trust... There are many factors here and each has to be tackled.
The problem lies with culture, proverty, injustice, inequalities, trust... There are many factors here and each has to be tackled.
No, I'm not being silly nor am I missing the point. I just don't allow the media to dictate what my perceptions should be.
This quote and the article you linked indicates that they're making an attempt at "creating a sense of community among African-Americans," and they clearly acknowledge the challenges in doing so. That doesn't mean that there is an actual thing known as "the black community," but that they're trying to create a sense of community and common cause among black people. This, in and of itself, seems well-intentioned, but it also seems to perpetuate segregationist ideas by dividing up different "communities" by race.
Moreover, you seem to be assigning someone to a given "community" just based on what you perceive their external racial characteristics. You said earlier that these rioters were a bad reflection on the "black community," but is there any indication that these rioters feel any sense of "community" here (as "community" is defined by this article)?
This isn't silly at all, and I think pointing out these misconceptions cuts to the heart of where the problem really lies.
The whole reason why we have a "black community," "white community," "Latino community," "Asian community," "Native American community," etc. is because once upon a time, a bunch of white people got together and decided "This is how it shall be." The book review you linked points this out clearly by stating that their struggle to form a community among blacks originated before the end of slavery, which was a time when Africans were snatched away from their homelands and forced to assimilate to the culture imposed upon by their captors. Whatever sense of culture or community they originally had was lost, so they had to struggle to form a new community with other Africans from other nations and who spoke different languages.
So, in a very real sense, the "white community" is directly responsible for creating the "black community" in America. Therefore, anything that reflects badly on the "black community" is just as much a bad reflection on the "white community," since the "white community" is responsible for how its own creations turn out.
Sure, I might read it. That book review made it sound interesting.
I'm a white guy, or at least, that's what it says on my birth certificate. I like to think that I'm pretty knowledgeable about our country's history, culture, and various sub-cultures. My perspective may be slightly different from those who live in the eastern part of the country, as there aren't as many blacks compared to the much larger Latino and Anglo populations, but that's a cultural divide which doesn't get as much play in the media.
But a lot of what may be perceived as a cultural divide might also be the result of something contrived that was forced upon the country as a whole and affected the perceptions of all inhabitants of all races. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but I'm just wondering how much of it is actually "cultural" and how much of it is political.
The black community is literally a nation within this nation.
African Americans have separated themselves from white society in spite of well meaning efforts of
white politicians to intigrate society.
Tell you what you could do as an experiment.
Get yourself a $900 buck suit of clothes, wear a Rolex, park your Beamer ouside a corner store deep
in the hood of Youngstown Ohio, get out, enter the store, buy some goods with $100 dollar bills
and very soon you will fully understand "Black Community", cultural divide, racial hate and criminal intent.
A Caveat: NO WEAPONS allowed. If you carry a gun for defense from some perceived threat you will be
killed instantly just to get your gun.
That seems more like an economic divide, at least when you mention a Rolex and Beamer, with a $900 suit of clothes to boot. I know of some white neighborhoods where, if someone goes in looking like that, they might find a different kind of "cultural divide," even within the "white community." Picture a rich New York lawyer getting lost in the backwoods of Kentucky, and you might have the same result as if he was in the hood of Youngstown (which I've passed through before but didn't stop).
I would try a variation on such an experiment, though, at least to see just how much there actually is - culturally - in terms of differences. First, as a control, I don't think it would serve any purpose to intentionally rile people or cite the TV antics of juvenile delinquents as being any reflection of the "community" or "cultural divide." If we're talking about the community or culture, then it would be more telling to interact with someone who is older and has reached a certain level of maturity.
For one thing, I'm reasonably certain that I would be able to communicate with the local inhabitants, as we would speak the same language. I would wager that a black person my own age in Youngstown might have quite a bit in common with me, culturally speaking. Not only the same language, but we've probably been influenced by various aspects of the overall popular culture and the conglomeration of cultures which exist in America. Music, art, literature, TV shows, movies, as well as similar styles of education in terms of understanding of our history and political system - even if there may be variations of perception between black and white, precisely because of that very history.
Blacks and whites have been living side by side in this country for 400 years. Despite the horrific and egregious circumstances of what happened, when you really come down to it, we're probably closer to each other culturally than either group would have in common with their ancestral cultures across the Atlantic, whether in Europe or in Africa. Anything beyond that is just politics.
How so? You yourself said that you grew up in a black neighborhood. Did you think that you lived in a different community from your black neighbors? Dividing up "communities" on a racial basis is what I find specious, not my statement.
Because it appears that some cops don't understand those legal principles. I sometimes get the feeling that there are those who want to turn America into a police state, if it isn't one already.
But I don't see these incidents as the "black community" versus the "white community," but more a matter of "citizen vs. oppressive government." Take race out of the equation, then that's what we have.
Because they are more likely to be armed and violent criminals than any comparable demographic.
If it was just knee jerk racism you'd see similar numbers of black women dying in altercations with the police. But you don't see that.
Tom
Er, I highly doubt that these riots and flash mobs that have been taking place throughout the country the last few years have much to do with black kids being unable to find jobs or go to college. Most of the ones involved in those behaviors are high school kids and they organize these things on Twitter and Facebook The Baltimore riot was planned beforehand and the Freddie Gray thing is just a convenient backdrop. They're not exactly dirt poor, either. They have smartphones, wear expensive clothing (you think those brand-name urban/streetwear lines are cheap? Ha!), wear expensive shoes, the girls have expensive purses, many of them have cars, etc. No, this is not a matter of righteous frustration or anger, really. This is a cultural problem. Some aspects of the prevailing culture encourages black teens in the inner city to act like morons and become criminals. They don't have a stable family structure at home and so, a lot of the time, there's no one to teach them right from wrong. They don't want to listen to politicians, teachers, the police or other authority figures because they see them as "the man" and, if they're black, "Uncle Toms". (Obama's getting called an "Uncle Tom" on Twitter right now because of what he said about the riots earlier today.) Their heroes are rappers who encourage violence, crime and mayhem in their lyrics and who are in gangs themselves (or were, or never were and are just exploiting an image for profit).
Trust me, I see the REAL dirt poor and downtrodden people when I go to the community health center. Those people are homeless, have major mental health problems, are drug addicts, alcoholics, etc. And there's about an even spread of white people who go there, too. Those are not the sort of people you see rioting or taking part in those violent flash mobs.
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The "black community" is the part of town where you see a large number of cars like this:
And they're all blaring rap with the subwoofers turned up so loud, it makes your teeth rattle.
Oh, my! Sadly, there's more than a grain of truth in your post.
Yes, that should stop too, of course. At least when it actually happens and when the media isn't skewing it and making it something it isn't to stir up ratings and anger.