Racism Issue recently here in the States

I had an argument with a friend a while ago about how some black people are racist and are usually the ones crying racism. He was blaming things on race which had nothing to do with anything, it was only him bringing race into anything. He also doesn't see anything wrong with the Society of Black Lawyers, but when I said what if there was a Society of White Lawyers... That'd be racist to him though. I couldn't help but laugh at the hypocrisy. He doesn't think black people can be racist.

Sadly, it seems that some people seem to want there to be an issue with race when the majority of the time it's not an issue at all... At least over here anyway.

Anyway, my point with the first paragraph was to do with the whole Black Lives Matter thing. Heard that before and they're wrong - all lives matter whatever colour skin you have.

I usually sound harsh to the few black people I know as I can't stand talk of them saying they're held back and it all goes back to slavery which is why they kick off when a black person is killed and white people don't when a white person is killed. It's bullshit, but I don't feel bad about slavery or even think about it. Why would it? Had fuck all to do with me and was so long ago I think it's irrelevant. People just making issues up because they can which makes people think racism is more of a thing than it is in this day and age, same with women who moan about being held down for being a woman. It's all bullshit apart from the few retards who actually are racist or sexist... But they're in the major minority now over here in my view (I know there'll be some areas where that's not the case tho)

lol at a bunch of white dudes discussing whether racism or sexism still exist.

Sery I think racism never stopped being an issue. You might think that ever since racial equality was written into law that all the problems are solved, but it runs much deeper than that. Racism isn't as simple as KKK and Nazis, it's about treating people differently based on their ethnicity, which occurs all the time every day. All races are being held down in the US except for caucasians, because we are presently the dominant race. Us caucasians view the world through a white lens, and we don't notice how differently other races are treated. We have it so easy in life and we don't even realise it. It's a very complex issue and we won't see it resolved in our lifetimes. We can, however, try to improve ourselves and those around us, and hope that we make progress. Also ben, you are right saying that black people can be racist too.

Sexism is pretty similar. We don't notice how hard it is for women, as long as it keeps being easy for men.

To understand how racism and sexism. affects modern first world countries, I think we need to understand the concept of white privilege and male privilege.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos I like that explain how racism continues to thrive in the US:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/fTcSVQJ2h8g[/youtube]

[youtube]https://youtu.be/cGFdIEZRH5k?list=PLQ9B … poBefZKEkq[/youtube]

Racism has always been a problem.. its bad with open racisism on facebook.. people hate all muslim people... openly...black people are openly racism but its fair game.. when they follow a white guy like Shaun King who makes it an issue everywhere... "white privilege" ect it gets old i have many ethnics in my family... and i care for them all.... but when i see double sides of it... then it goes old to me.

Racism will never end.  it's just up to people who know it's wrong on both ends to not allow it.

I guess i'm a little bothered as i spoke up and around for many black people last summer... but when i see what they have to say about everything... they come across as no better then the people who are making issues.

EDIT i just want to add that i do have a good idea about what other races go through i grew up in various cultures and i live in a very white culture now that stares at a black man for walking down the street.

Facebook is the worst for it. People use it to spread hate and people jump on the bandwagon and just become retarded by not reading articles, and instead just going of on one about a sensationalist title. People go for causing fear on it and unfortunately idiots fall for it without actually reading anything.

Can see it becoming more of a thing in America, as I'm constantly seeing posts about Trump and people supporting him. How anyone can support a guy that says he'd date his own daughter is beyond me. Add in how racist he is and it just shows how retarded some people really are.

Perfect example seems to be the Titus O'Neil suspension - some people are complaining that it's racially motivated. Has anyone with a brain cell really thought that was the case? People are just saying that because he's black. Someone though has decided to bring race into something that has nothing to do with race. Whilst people keep doing this it'll seem like more of a problem than it is.

WWE has responded to allegations that their suspension of Titus O'Neil, which has been reduced to 60 days, was racially motivated. WWE issued the following statement to The New York Post this week: “The suspension of Titus O’Neil had nothing to do with race and everything to do with unprofessional conduct.”

WWE also sent The Post a copy of a text message they claim O'Neil sent someone high up in the company. The text from O'Neil read: “I feel like sh** now so if you have to let me go, I understand. Stupid mistake.”

O'Neil is reportedly well-liked by his peers backstage and does lots of charity work with WWE. If his 60-day suspension is upheld he will miss WrestleMania, which is typically a WWE wrestler's biggest pay bonus of the year.

I saw a funny stat last year on a certain prison. Can't remember what it was as I didn't really care enough, but it was about people complaining about how it's clearly racist because there's more black people in there than white. When they looked at the areas that people from this certain prison came from - it was restricted to one massive area - and they showed that the population of that area was majority black people (was something stupid like 80% black community) so is it a surprise that you'd get more black people in prison, just like it's no surprise that the majority of people that work in the surrounding area are black people. I think they had only one white prison guard as well. Was ridiculous that people were complaining about it.

Anyway, it't really not an issue where I live, so I guess that's good. Last I'll say on it (cus racism pisses me off, so won't be commenting again on this subject) is that people need to start trying to help the situations, but fuelling it crying racism when thats not the case - will never go away whilst people are doing that. Speaking up in situations where it clearly is is obviously fine as it needs addressing, but most of the time I've seen it in my life it's not been close to being the case. I stopped being friends with one mate because he blamed every problem in his life on being black, it clearly had nothing to do with him being a complete twat in his mind.

The major thing I see is the hate towards Muslims (not technically racist but I digress) and immigrants coming from European countries. Although I think my city is so diverse it's not a major issue here - more to do with online activity where people apparently have no qualms about being openly racist (Facebook is by far the worst).

Unfortunately, there will always be morons around to throw discrimination towards other races, sexualities or anything not deemed 'normal' and I don't see how we could stamp it out completely.

Unfortunately, there will always be morons around to throw discrimination towards other races, sexualities or anything not deemed 'normal' and I don't see how we could stamp it out completely.

People just making issues up because they can which makes people think racism is more of a thing than it is in this day and age, same with women who moan about being held down for being a woman. It's all bullshit apart from the few retards who actually are racist or sexist...

I think you're both missing the point.

Casual, everyday racism is still alive and well, and IMO is a bigger problem than extremism. People, who don't think they are racist, make (possibly subliminal) racist decisions all the time. It's not just extremists who are racist. Here's another Youtube showing what I mean.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0VTHYdK5-c[/youtube]

I think the current generation in the first world really, truly wants to see equality among all people. The legality of gay marriage is spreading further and further, and hopefully we do see more progress in the decline of casual racism, sexism, classism, and LGBT discrimination. We need to realise it all starts with ourselves, and identifying your own minor prejudices is important.

A few years ago, I was in control of staffing at a workplace, and I wasn't hiring people who had flawed English language skills. In hindsight, I think maybe hiring migrants may have promoted acceptance and diversity in a very white suburb, and I wish I had been more open-minded. I am trying to identify my own bias and trying to improve myself, and I encourage all reading to do the same. 🙂

I'm not sure how relevant what I may say here is, as I'm A) not American and B) vastly underexposed to racial issues, but I know about discrimination well enough. I'll try to give a bit of my perspective on discrimination and hope for some vague relevance. (Added after finishing): LONG POST, hope someone gets something out of it. I'm off to bed, will re-read it tomorrow - til then, I really hope this makes some sense. Tired as hell. Well, here it is...

I've always wondered about the roots of racism, sexism, etc. I've never exactly fit in anywhere - always been on the outside looking in, always the odd one out. At some point in time, my position in society was decided for me -I ceased to be an outcast and became a minority. Due to the slow progression of social and, indeed, my own knowledge/understanding of sexuality and gender, I've become 2 different kinds of minority at vastly different times in my life. And no one can prepare you for it. In school, I went from being a non-descript target for bullies to a sexual minority for hateful minds and hearts to look down on, scoff at, whisper about and (of course) openly cast down with hate speech and death threats (I was a victim of cyberbullying before there was a word for it). All because someone outed me as bisexual. I have friends younger than myself who went to the same school - they tell me how, in the years immediately following my graduation, there was a sudden burst of kids coming out - too many, in fact - such that he and others I know are 100% certain a lot of the ones who came out bi- or bi-curious only did it for attention during this new window where the attention was inverse to what I experienced. Just kids that wanted to stand out - girls to turn on boys they liked / guys to seem deep and brave to gullible girls they liked. Disproportionate amount of boys acting femmy and wearing nail polish and eyeliner (like I did - and got shit on for it, in my last years of senior high). Just for a couple years, then it died down. Weird. Still - I also know for a fact some of the ones who came out were legit, and didn't have to deal with the same black cloud as me. "You inadvertently paved a new road at that school", they'd say.  I always say the same thing about all of these goings-on - "How the hell did it completely 180 in such short time? Why? This is met with an emphatic shrug of the shoulders, of course. I highlighted that part 'cause it seems reflective of the race situation in the US - things seem to have escalated so quickly, so suddenly, with no clear sight of why, huh?

Fast forward many moons later, and I'm a transgender woman in rural Newfoundland, where I know of a handful of LGB people - no T, just me - openly, at least. I know many in the capital, but out here it's not even spoken of. Except amongst those who know me, or (I presume) those who know one of the 2 other rural citizens I've merely heard are out. I intend to try and break through the damn school system and go speak at schools around here, to open up a dialogue in the hopes of opening up minds. Let those who are like me know they're not alone and show the cis folks that we're here. We exist. We matter. Isn't that fucked up and ass-backwards, though? For any group of people - to have to go out and spread knowledge on something about themselves, something that's been around forever... just 'cause it's been so well-hidden/oppressed in our society. I'd be talking to some people who've just learned people like me are really amongst them. I'm part of a fight for an equality that so many others, now and before me, have never had. Yeah - that's messed up. You can't quite understand it til it affects you directly, you can empathize but not truly relate. It's a weird feeling - that's all I can say.

Yes, I'm going on about gender and sexual issues - how does this tie into race? Well, really, this comes down to discrimination in general, so it ties in enough I hope - let me get a bit more across, here.

It seems to me that in a society, there always has to be a minority, always has to be a less-than, or even a villain. It also seems to me that the terms and conditions are arbitrary, in terms of who gets held down. The only consistency I see is in who's NOT held down - HOWEVER, only in a singular way. Ugh, let me try to explain this better...

Basically, the hierarchical high-point hinges on a cluster of arbitrary qualifications - if you're white, male, cisgender, straight, rich, married, have kids, are Catholic and also able of body/mind - you've hit the goddamn superiority jackpot. I THINK that's the main list - maybe scratch Catholic for now? It varies mildly but mostly, that's it. For each of the above individual traits you DON'T have, you fall down the totem pole some. How much so depends on the social/political/economical climate of the time. Of all those traits, I've got "white" going for me. The SECOND you cross off even one thing, you're less-than. This is what it is to be a minority, folks. I'm part of a "group" - not a chosen group - not one I'd even known, for such a long time, exists - simply because a more powerful group decided that we all, each, are less-than and thus, are in total, less-than. Proud to be a part of the LGBTQ community - it's just sad that society's too shitty to us (and so many other "groups") to just have one community - fuckin' people. Call me a hippie if you like - hope the irony of doing so won't be lost on you, fellow less-than. (Because statistically, at this point, I swear that in at least one way, the majority of people in Western society are minorities - isn't that a funny thing? A majority of minorities.)

The closest thing I've come up with for a "reason" behind this shit is that the meaning of "society" is so far removed from where it was when evolution last made a pivotal move in how our brains function. The problem is this - categorization works great for compartmentalizing various things - as it happens, though, people are not THINGS, and discrimination hinges on psychological categorization of people. This worked okay (I guess) when it was applied to picking out who are the hunters and who are the gatherers. It works when you use it to bring out the best in individuals' strengths in order to create a better whole. Categorization and generalization don't favor social advancement.

Maybe an odd example, but I think this works - think of a band. A band is, by nature, a sum of individual parts. In this example, we have a 4-piece rock band - drummer, bassist, guitarist, vocalist. All are very skilled and consistently put on great shows. They're together for years - this same line-up - and life outside the band goes on. They have ups and downs, blah blah and, we'll say, the drummer starts a family. One day, the drummer quits the band because they want to focus on their new family. They all shake hands and the remaining members begin the process of hiring a new drummer. The auditions are tough for them - these new, strange people trying to fit in with them. Eventually, though, they find just the right player and begin work on new material. Sometimes they miss how it was before, but nonetheless work to become comfortable with the new line-up.

Take that same scenario, up to the point the drummer quit. Now, instead of the amicable departure of the drummer, let's say the guitarist is pissed about it, really bitter. Let's add to it that the guitarist is the main songwriter (social higher-up) or even just a charismatic mouthpiece for the band (high-up) and the others - doesn't matter how reluctantly - secede to the will of the guitarist. The band now has a smaller pool of drummers to choose from, and may miss out on someone who'd serve the role much better.

Now imagine they're all white males (be honest, how many of you were already picturing that by default? Hell, even I was - and this is to do with stereotypes, which is part of where I'm going), and that same charismatic shit-talker refuses to hire anyone who isn't also a white male. And again, the opportunity to gain something - new experience, new knowledge, new friend, new musical dynamic, whatever - is forsaken for a superficial, narrow notion of what's familiar and proper.

I realize that metaphor is labored, but I hope it's clear enough. I'm not trying to say that narrow-mindedness, stereotyping/misinformation/closing avenues of communication and categorization are all there is to it, but these are a big part of discrimination. Stereotyping breeds ignorance and a sense of superiority. Categorization breeds separatism. Misinformation breeds fear and further ignorance. I don't pretend to hold the solution to anything, but I will say it's important to navigate those waters carefully and try to promote knowledge and encourage equality.

An idol thought for a closer, but I wonder less these days about how many people it takes to hold those deemed "other" down than how many "others" rising up it takes to stake a rightful claim. Also, it seems to me that every generation - maybe even decade - has to have a preferred target that they'll abuse to no end, while also seeing the uprising of a previous preferred target. You can be sure that there are people who aren't racist, but are homophobic, and vice versa. "Rah rah, equality! Except for those people over there, they're shit, they are."  I dunno... it's a funny little world, eh? (What? All Canadians say "eh".)

Last edited by Pilgrim Paige (Fri-12-Feb-2016 07:43:38)

Unfortunately, there will always be morons around to throw discrimination towards other races, sexualities or anything not deemed 'normal' and I don't see how we could stamp it out completely.

Casual, everyday racism is still alive and well, and IMO is a bigger problem than extremism. People, who don't think they are racist, make (possibly subliminal) racist decisions all the time. It's not just extremists who are racist.

I completely understand and agree with that. I was just making a separate point that where I live, more so than the States for example, is very diversified and you don't really see blatant acts of racism; just keyboard warriors hiding behind racist memes on social media.

Britain in general though definitely has a racism issue... Every time I hear someone going on about Britain First (racist group masquerading as British patriots) and crap about immigrants ruining the country it makes me cringe.

The race thing here over the last three years has been crazy. Their have been riots and protests, some of them even dangerous. In places like Baltimore and Ferguson. Their have been a few white cops who shot unarmed black men. Instead of it being a issues of a cop shot a unarmed citizen regardless of gender, its a white guy shot an unarmed black man. Now its gotten so bad that even if the police officers lives are in danger against a criminal, if they are white and the criminal is black, they'll risk their lives to try and apprehend the criminal without shooting them. I don't think most of the police force is corrupt. I know the general public would LOVE to think that, because they don't commit crimes, they just get screwed over by those damn crooked cops 😉. But the thing is its only a few of them who are shitheads but their actions are magnified by the 100th percent.. People just have a general hate for cops lol

I get annoyed at hearing it all. Black lives matter, people bitching about Black lives matter... This doesn't have to be such a big deal.

It's fucking refreshing to have an actual discussion on 4w.

If you're white, male, cisgender, straight, rich, married, have kids, are Catholic and also able of body/mind - you've hit the goddamn superiority jackpot. For each of the above individual traits you DON'T have, you fall down the totem pole some.

As a white cisgender male straight able-bodied married father, I think you're spot on. Also I think the higher up the 'superiority totem pole' (lol) you are, the harder it is to realise that it exists at all.

This doesn't have to be such a big deal.

Not to us, but for them it's a massive deal. If only 5% of cops discriminate based on race, then they have every reason to live in fear.