State your point and I will respond as I see fit. This appears to me to be some sort of manipulative game you are trying to instigate, and I am not interested in playing.
In front of live audiences I've held my own in dialouge about race for over 20 years. You should catch a show sometime. I don't try to silence anyone. I respect opinions from people who can admit that their may be an alternative perspective to their argument. I've never seen such behavior from you.
Its not a game. I want to understand what is your position. I assume you started the thread to express an opinion on a matter than is important to you; so why should my effort to understand your perspective be a problem? If you don't think racial categories like "blacks" and "whites" are useful or they are racist, then the answer to my question is straightforward. I'm not trying to trap you. You can say: "yes it is nonsensical" or "yes, it is racist", and that's the end of it. But if you refuse to say this, then I'd like to know why that is. Because based on what you had said earlier, it would appear to be a contradiction.
My point is that there are no different races. There is only one race, the human race. That being said, there is certainly plenty of racism and there are plenty of racists around, of every conceivable skin color, as I explained in post #2 of this thread. Their belief that there are different races is the very root of where that racism emanates from. I would personally like to see the ideology of racism completely rejected from the minds of all living humans, now and forever. I sincerely believe that can happen. Unfortunately, we are nowhere close to achieving that now, which I think is sad and very disappointing. As far as your question, I am not interested in playing semantic word games with you. My position is clear and I am happy to expand on it further. However, whatever I have to say about this, I will be saying in my own way. And whatever you want to say, of course you are free to say your own way.
It's hilarious how angry white guys try to re-write the history of race in America. The only race is the human race, har har, though the last four hundred years in America say otherwise.
when we drop hyphenated American to people that are born in this country...that's when we know racism is dead. Oh your great great grandpa was from Africa?...then you're African American. uh no. How about everyone who is born in this country = American?
According to currently popular theories of human evolution, we all originated in Africa. If that is correct, aren't we all African Americans?
Why does it matter if a black person is racist when black people don't have the power to oppress others... Nor do black people assassinate presidents, blow up federal buildings, burn churches, start murderous Christian hate groups, etc. There's really only one group of people in the country who consistently acts on their hate with violence... No disrespect but you defending yourself against being a racist is silly.
So you are openly encouraging and defending racism now, depending on what your skin color is. Very nice. {sarcasm} It appears quite clear at this juncture that the engine for continuing racism and the cultivation of the next generation of racists in our country is located primarily among the American left. You have contributed to and illustrated this practice right here, in all its gruesome ugliness. You have all but told him: 'It's OK for you to be a racist. You are black. You get a free pass because of your skin color, so go ahead and do it. Don't stop. You have nothing to be ashamed of.' What? Really? Seriously? And you want to cast aspersions on others because of THEIR affiliation with racism? If you want to see one clear source of the problem here, go look in the mirror. And if "There's really only one group of people in the country who consistently acts on their hate with violence..." as you said, it is not the group that you are suggesting that it is. You need to rethink that, with consideration for who actually commits notable amounts of violence in our country.
Dude... You didn't even know black people were still being lynched in this country... But please enlighten me.
They're not, as you also know very well. Enlighten you about what? Violence in this country and who the primary perpetrators of it are? As if you or anyone around here does not know. OK, I'll play along. Here you go: www.google.com
No.. I don't know. That's why I'm asking you to enlighten me. But if you're referring to the violence that goes on in poor drug infested neighborhoods... Maybe you should be enlightened on who's responsible for bringing those drugs and guns into those neighborhoods. George Bush Sr and Oliver North during the Reagan administration (two white dudes)... And that's when the violence started in those neighborhoods.
If you want to talk about gun violence and that sort of thing, feel free to go start your own thread and do that. This thread is about the phrase "people of color" and the fact that there is in fact only one race, the human race. If you want to talk about that, then fine. Otherwise, bye bye.
Don't hate me for participating in the topic you brought up. Racism and ignorance go hand and hand. And if you're going to discuss 'people of color' you can't be ignorant to the history. Because if you weren't ignorant to the history you wouldn't get anger and fear confused with racism when it comes to statements that many black people (and other minority groups) make.
Very well. My main comment is that if your position is clear, that means the implications of your position should also be clear. So that's all I'm trying to understand -- the implications. You maintain that we shouldn't try to group people based on racial categories as this only encourages racist sentiment (am I stating that fairly?). The implication is that we also should not examine prevailing attitudes among people who may self identify with a particular racial group (e.g. be it "white" or "black" or whatever), because in doing so we are again effectively categorizing people based on a racial category. Do you agree with this?
It seems like you are trying to railroad me into answering this in terms of the current P.C. vernacular now. It is not about labels, and of course it would be a fools exercise to expect people to stop visually observing what color people's skin is when they see them. If you want to try to parse this through the filter of political correctness, I will leave that to you, but I do not believe that will be a productive exercise. It is certainly not an exercise that I am going to be working with you on. Different skin color does not equate to a different race. We are one race, the human race. But we do have different levels of skin pigmentation. To the extent that your purpose is to build a case why sustaining a racist ideology is OK in some circumstances or for certain people, if that is where this is leading, we will just have to agree to disagree. I am not saying that is what you are doing, but if it is, you are wasting your time trying to get me on board. As far as examining attitudes of people that self identify with a particular "racial" group, I cannot imagine why anyone would object to that, unless the purpose was in truth to perpetuate racism and the continued acceptance of a racist ideology through those practices.
I stepped into the D&D just for a moment, and now I know why I've stayed away from here for so long. To start a thread with your race-baiting content, and following it up with such a polarized opinion, is ridiculous. Justice was served? Save me from that garbage. It's even more insulting that you compare Trayvon's killer with the cop who shot a different African American teen. As much as I disagree with the Darren Wilson decision, you've shown your true "colors" by lumping two African American teens, with demises involving VERY different circumstances, but you cover it up by defending Wilson, and UNBELIEVABLY, George Zimmerman. My mother is "white" and my father is "black," and I do see racism from both sides. To act like the outrage in both of the cases above was unwarranted is silly. It's obvious you would be outraged had a civilian, playing cop, judged guilty of murder. The same goes for Wilson. I could have just typed, "I see what you did there." The first post in this thread defines internet trolling. Good riddance to you and the other posters with race issues. Tolerance, equality, peace and love is a much better frame of mind. Choose that over your personal bias and pettiness, and I promise you that you will live a happier life. I'm out. I'll go play some ball with a diverse group of people. At least there, on the court, it's all love.
I'm not sure what PC vernacular you are talking about. I don't see political correctness or incorrectness as an issue here. My only purpose is to understand the substance of your point and hopefully find some common ground where we agree. That's all. I expect ultimately we are operating with different premises, so we will never fully agree. And that's fine. My apologies if my method for trying to come to this understanding is irritating to you. So, if one makes a statement like "Most black people think X", where by "black people" they are really just referring to people who self-identify as black, that's not necessarily objectionable unless they are trying to perpetuate a racist agenda. Then I think the really important question becomes: How do you determine the situations where there is an ulterior racist purpose?
