• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

White people cannot be poor by definition?!

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
When I first heard this statement, it seemed ludicrous, due to the animosity that can be seen from either side at times, but then, to make absolutely sure I wasn't missing something, I looked at the definition of "racism", and I started to think that this idea is based on the main/original definition of the word:

a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement,usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.

The part that struck me in bold. Most of what is said from blacks ends up being to the tune of equality, however there are those who stray into the realm of calling out all whites as being morally bankrupt when it comes to race, which in itself is the holding of an idea that black people are somehow morally superior by default - which, in turn, is racist according to the above definition.

Hence is why I said:

Malcolm X once alluded (as I imperfectly paraphrase) that "the black American cannot be blamed for his racial animosity due to the residual effects of racism and segregation, as well as systems in place that whose intent was to restrict potential and equality."
 

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
Sure, but I don't think such nuances matter much to anyone who has been harassed or assaulted simply for having the wrong color of skin.

That is a given considering being a victim of any crime regardless of the perpetrators reason, one is not concerned with the historicity of the crime, but understanding why on a broader scale should help.
 

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member
When I was headed over to my local dollar store and getting ready to buy some liquor as well I witnessed something that can only be described as hilarious.

An old white man standing outside the 99 cent store singing and begging for money while crooning on his guitar. A black man walked out and immediately began cursing at him stating that he is white and he is just trying to cheat black people out of their money. He then further claimed that white people need not worry about money and should just stop begging since they are not poor. This old bum ignored him completely and smiled after the affair was through and went about singing . . . which he was quite good at I should add.

Me and my sister found it funny but at the same time I paid it no attention initially since this is typical treatment in my eyes of whites by blacks. This happens all the time and every couple of days for me as I see further tensions being made between Europeans and western living Africans.

I should further add I live in a welltodo part of an otherwise ghetto. Is this the norm in the hood or is it the exception?
Something similar happen to my daughter while riding a bus. Some people got in her face about white privilege. I hope this doesn't become a trend. It's quite counterproductive.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Hence is why I said: "the black American cannot be blamed for his racial animosity due to the residual effects of racism and segregation, as well as systems in place that whose intent was to restrict potential and equality."
And this is a sentiment I completely understand. There is simply no excuse for the way black people have historically been treated on the whole within the U.S. And I know the effects aren't limited to being "residual" in nature, even today - that there are perhaps only more clandestine methods in play today that attempt to keep the status quo as it had been established - whether individual, or systematic.
 
Last edited:

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member
When I first heard this statement, it seemed ludicrous, due to the animosity that can be seen from either side at times, but then, to make absolutely sure I wasn't missing something, I looked at the definition of "racism", and I started to think that this idea is based on the main/original definition of the word:

a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement,usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.

The part that struck me in bold. Most of what is said from blacks ends up being to the tune of equality, however there are those who stray into the realm of calling out all whites as being morally bankrupt when it comes to race, which in itself is the holding of an idea that black people are somehow morally superior by default - which, in turn, is racist according to the above definition.
If it's not racism then race hatred certainly exists, seemingly from all races.

 

oldbadger

Skanky Old Mongrel!
When I was headed over to my local dollar store and getting ready to buy some liquor as well I witnessed something that can only be described as hilarious.

An old white man standing outside the 99 cent store singing and begging for money while crooning on his guitar. A black man walked out and immediately began cursing at him stating that he is white and he is just trying to cheat black people out of their money. He then further claimed that white people need not worry about money and should just stop begging since they are not poor. This old bum ignored him completely and smiled after the affair was through and went about singing . . . which he was quite good at I should add.

Me and my sister found it funny but at the same time I paid it no attention initially since this is typical treatment in my eyes of whites by blacks. This happens all the time and every couple of days for me as I see further tensions being made between Europeans and western living Africans.

I should further add I live in a welltodo part of an otherwise ghetto. Is this the norm in the hood or is it the exception?

Ah ha! :)
I know what that old white man could have replied to the black man who was angry about him begging.

He could have replied, 'But I'm not begging, I'm singing for those coins!' :D

It's not begging if a person is giving any kind of service.......
 

Curious George

Veteran Member
When I was headed over to my local dollar store and getting ready to buy some liquor as well I witnessed something that can only be described as hilarious.

An old white man standing outside the 99 cent store singing and begging for money while crooning on his guitar. A black man walked out and immediately began cursing at him stating that he is white and he is just trying to cheat black people out of their money. He then further claimed that white people need not worry about money and should just stop begging since they are not poor. This old bum ignored him completely and smiled after the affair was through and went about singing . . . which he was quite good at I should add.

Me and my sister found it funny but at the same time I paid it no attention initially since this is typical treatment in my eyes of whites by blacks. This happens all the time and every couple of days for me as I see further tensions being made between Europeans and western living Africans.

I should further add I live in a welltodo part of an otherwise ghetto. Is this the norm in the hood or is it the exception?
I do not recall ever seeing an instance of this. I have seen assertions in academia that poor white people have better tools to improve their situation than people of color, however this is very different than someone asserting that a poor person is not poor because they are white.

How exactly is this typical in your opinion?
 

HonestJoe

Well-Known Member
This happens all the time and every couple of days for me as I see further tensions being made between Europeans and western living Africans.
Hey! Don’t go associating the ignorance and general social failures of Americans with the rest of us just because we might have similar skin colours.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Ah ha! :)
I know what that old white man could have replied to the black man who was angry about him begging.

He could have replied, 'But I'm not begging, I'm singing for those coins!' :D

It's not begging if a person is giving any kind of service.......
The term for it is "busking".
I have a niece who does that in NYC.
She's far far far from poor, but it's her part time profession.

Which raises a question....
If one is Asian, can one be poor?
What if one is only half Asian (the other half caucasian)?
Racial politics are so confusing.
 

oldbadger

Skanky Old Mongrel!
The term for it is "busking".
I have a niece who does that in NYC.
She's far far far from poor, but it's her part time profession.
The term 'busking' is used around here.
My point is that we are all beggars in one way or another, because we all make requests to further our livings.

Which raises a question....
If one is Asian, can one be poor?
What if one is only half Asian (the other half caucasian)?
Racial politics are so confusing.
I reckon that a person can be rich or poor regardless of race, colour, religion, nationality, gender, age etc
 

Politesse

Amor Vincit Omnia
Of course not, and this person of yours is off his rocker. The whole point of the black/white dichotomy as invented in Virginia and enshrined in US law was to use skin color to distract from the real divisions of class and prevent the underclass from finding unity in rejection of their shared masters. None of this makes sense if there are no poor whites to segregate.

I would agree that life is customarily harder and more dangerous for poor blacks than it is for similarly poor whites. The above fiction with its assumed veneer of white privilege guarantees that this will be so. Your white panhandler is much less likely to be arrested for "loitering" or a similar charge, for instance, and that is a sociological fact, not conjecture.
 

Curious George

Veteran Member
Of course not, and this person of yours is off his rocker. The whole point of the black/white dichotomy as invented in Virginia and enshrined in US law was to use skin color to distract from the real divisions of class and prevent the underclass from finding unity in rejection of their shared masters. None of this makes sense if there are no poor whites to segregate.

I would agree that life is customarily harder and more dangerous for poor blacks than it is for similarly poor whites. The above fiction with its assumed veneer of white privilege guarantees that this will be so. Your white panhandler is much less likely to be arrested for "loitering", for instance, and that is a sociological fact, not conjecture.
Correction: "white" people in general are statistically less likely to be arrested for loitering. This can possibly be extended to "white" panhandlers in general (If such a study existed) however this says nothing about the individual panhandler in question or the specific police force in the area.
 

Politesse

Amor Vincit Omnia
Correction: "white" people in general are statistically less likely to be arrested for loitering. This can possibly be extended to "white" panhandlers in general (If such a study existed) however this says nothing about the individual panhandler in question or the specific police force in the area.
On odds, if you're in the US, the above is going to be true. Do you know of any places where this is not so?
 

Curious George

Veteran Member
On odds, if you're in the US, the above is going to be true. Do you know of any places where this is not so?
I know that what you said was not necessarily true. That is what I highlighted. Are you disagreeing get with the point and asserting that it is necessarily true? Would you disagree that making individual assertions based on statistical trends is incorrect?
 

Politesse

Amor Vincit Omnia
I know that what you said was not necessarily true. That is what I highlighted. Are you disagreeing get with the point and asserting that it is necessarily true? Would you disagree that making individual assertions based on statistical trends is incorrect?
No, my statement was about probability, and is safe to assume in the absence of specific knowledge.

If it is true that I am more likely to be mauled by a bear than killed by a terrorist, that remains true even if I happen to get offed by a terrorist later. It was an unlikely event, not an impossible one, and remains so even after it has happened.
 
Top