Racism: Article about Philidelphia.

[Acera]

Wanted to post this, as it is making a lot of news and many may not have seen it. Seems to have hit a nerve there. I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg and we may see more conversations like this soon. Thousands of comments show, to me anyway, a growing not a declining issue.

This post is not meant to start a shit storm, just a informational post with hopefully some civil discussion. I hope this does not go the way of religion threads..................

Being White in Philly | Philadelphia magazine

 

[steve-o]

Great article, he did what needs to be done, don't assume what the problem is , go out and talk to people and understand their experiences, and there is where you will most likely find the solution.

 

[cbigclarke]

There ain't but 2 activE Negros on here and....i just don't see them complaining

 

[Glockster69]

There ain't but 2 activE Negros on here and....i just don't see them complaining

I got part way through the read yesterday and that's what I thought too. It's not necessarily how people are treated but rather their, often trained, response to how they are treated. The girl responding to stolen cell phone is a prime example. I also don't like the fact that the author keeps waffling between black and African-American tags. Lack of decisiveness in my opinion. Also African-American especially, but ANY hyphenated American is not an American in my opinion.

I have been diligently working on not letting myself get caught in the 'race' garbage for sometime now. We are people, some good and some bad (subjective), and should be treated accordingly.

No offense to the bad peeps

 

[PPTerry]

.....

 

[GlockOwner]

I judge people on all kinds of things. I judge them based on their clothing, their skin color, their speaking ability, and many other things. It's just natural. Humans have the want to understand things and passing judgement based on looks is the quickest way to get the feeling that you understand who that person is. Each race has their own stereotypes. Black people, unfortunately, embrace those stereotypes, then get offended when you point it out. Latinos are the same way to a lesser degree. At least that is how it is from my point of view.

We can get onto the numbers of blacks on welfare and other government aid. One of the girls in the article basically asks why we keep giving them government aid when all they want to do is "just make babies and [smoke] pot". I'm sure you have all heard about the food bell and the dog. You ring the bell when it's time to give the dog food, and eventually the dog will get used it, and will salivate at the sound of the bell. It's a form of conditioning. Blacks in the US have been conditioned in the same way. The government was (and still is) giving out all kinds of free stuff to blacks to try and help them rise up and be productive members of society after being oppressed for so long. What happened though, is that they got used to getting this free stuff, and now come to expect it, as if it is in the Bill of Rights. Since the government continues with these handouts, they have no incentive to try and improve their situation. It is culturally acceptable to take the government money and then do other things (like sell drugs) on the side to make up for the remaining need in income. Same can be said for the way black people expect to be treated. Early on, it was very common for blacks to suffer verbal abuse by whites, and their parents taught them this. Now blacks think every word that comes out of your mouth (if you aren't black) is somehow supposed to be racist. This is hypocritical, in that blacks are now some of the most racist people out there, just look at the comedians. Black comedians entire routines are about race and they all use degrading names for other races, yet if a white comedian does it, he is shunned and forced into a public apology.

The political correctness that is socially expected is out of control. I don't get the whole "african-american" thing either. If a black person was born in China, is he "african-chinese" or "african-asian"?

I'm done...for now

 

[Elbe]

The Mayor of Philly responds by threatening the magazines 1A rights. Here is an opinion piece about the Mayors response to Philadelphia Magazine and a great example of why it is difficult at best to talk about these issues.

Nuts to Nutter - Kevin D. Williamson - National Review Online

 

[Acera]

A national conversation needs to be started. Problem is some of the folks that are responsible will not sit at the table and admit their complicity. As long as their is power and money to be made from keeping the problem going, there will be willing participants to accept the power and money. All sides must be prepared to admit guilt, and give up the idea that they are above criticism. Only then will we begin to make real progress, otherwise it's just like the national debt and other issues. We just keep kicking the can farther down the street hoping someone else will deal with it after we get ours and are gone. When it will not go any farther, look out, that is when the shit will really hit the fan.

 

[kurt]

Jesse and Al won't allow progress. They like the status quo.

 

[Glockster69]

A national conversation needs to be started. Problem is some of the folks that are responsible will not sit at the table and admit their complicity. As long as their is power and money to be made from keeping the problem going, there will be willing participants to accept the power and money. All sides must be prepared to admit guilt, and give up the idea that they are above criticism. Only then will we begin to make real progress, otherwise it's just like the national debt and other issues. We just keep kicking the can farther down the street hoping someone else will deal with it after we get ours and are gone. When it will not go any farther, look out, that is when the shit will really hit the fan.

Concerning the changes needed I disagree. I can't affect how you, a black or a Swede conduct their lives and react to words. What I can do is control my actions and responses. I am DONE with the PC crap and will use simple, easy for all to understand words to define/describe things and if doing that will escalate a situation into a bad situation, hopefully I'll just keep my damn mouth shut. If *you* can't deal with facts, that's really not my problem.