I've seen some senator mention the idea but that was some time ago, when it first popped up, it would be such an easy thing to do. It's too late for him to do it now because it would seem like an insincere thing that was proposed to him instead of it being his own thing. The Senate and House would take the credit more from it at this point and I believe right now it would pass if Trump approves it. Democratic House gets to put their stamp on something and the Trump controlled Senate does what he says regardless. And I know some will say "Yeah, but wouldn't he alienate his racist base doing that?" Not really. The racist Trump supporters don't like black people but their main race concerns are Hispanics/Immigration and becoming a 'minority' due to that. Black people aren't threatening this dynamic, black folk been 13% since forever now, that's not ever changing if anything it goes down...they just get off on watching cops brutalize black people but they'd happily trade that for more immigration control. When you poll that base of his Immigration is always their #1 control, some of them openly try to recruit blacks by telling us "Oh, Hispanics are really your problem. They're taking YOUR jobs too." Trump will never do it though. He's a slave to his base and I think he actually gets off on being an Authoritarian. All of his quotes about it are beaming and his favorite leaders, the only ones he speaks highly of really, are dictators that never lose 'elections'. So he gets off on sending in the military for "LAW & ORDER". I'm sure he's so happy that he finally had a reason to do it. That's what he wants to be soo bad, the military parades, control of the media, I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of his term he's wearing a military uniform of some kind.
I heard this exact sentiment from my relative that are trump supporters. Amazing and powerful belief echoes.
I've skimmed through this thread and agree that a lot of this is tribal and has to do with how humans sort things. Biases are driven a lot by emotions and are there so we can make quick decisions such as quickly determining if someone is a friend or a foe. They also can serve as a social organizing system to encourage cooperation and loyalty within a group. The "us" versus the "others' is a powerful motivation to convince a group of people they need to work together. We're just hardwired to clump together into groups while distrusting other groups whether it is for nomadic tribes up to calling your nation the Middle Kingdom and everyone else barbarians. I personally don't think there are many Americans who still just out rightly hate others for their skin color. I think that most people can and do form relationships across skin color and thus the idea that "I'm not racist because I have a friend of another race". Skin color doesn't become a primary factor in how people sort but is factor in how people are sorted. Other factor such as physical size and class come into play and all of those feed into a judgment about how someone views someone. For example my business partner is black. He's also only 5'-2" tall dresses very conservatively, and wears glasses (think a cross between Carleton from Fresh Prince and Urkel) To my knowledge he's never been randomly stopped by LE and he's also been a local Republican party activist and is welcomed and treated well by people who have expressed what could be considered racist sentiments. While my business partner is black the perception of him as a black man is ameliorated by other factors. With how someone like George Floyd was treated race is definitely a big factor but George Floyd also fit a certain view black people especially black men. He was poor and he was large. He fit the stereotype of what think of the dangerous black and the type of fixture that you see in negative portrayals of urban neighborhoods. Race is just part of the makeup of how he is perceived. This goes back to something that has been very much on my mind the last few days. Given similarities in age and in geographic background why did I end up as a middle class professional while George Floyd end up dying under the knee of an LEO. I've heard many of my black friends (yes I have black friends so I'm not racist say "that could've been me.." I don't think that could've been me and I doubt most people even if they don't know me well think I could've ended up dying like Floyd. Is it because I'm only 5'-7" while Floyd was 6'-6"? Is it because I would've driven up to Cup foods in a Honda HRV? Is it because I'm not black? Thinking about it does seem like the only thing Floyd and I had in common was that we lived within miles of each other for a big part of our lives across two cities. Much of our fate was already decided by who our parents were, what their backgrounds were including what skin color they passed onto us.
Really nice to see a good, educated, non troll post on here which actually discusses the issue and doesn't engage in personal attacks or politics. Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I don't think there are many people who hate or dislike someone because of the color of their skin. I really think most of it is based on previous interactions, stereotypes, and appearance.
I'm also going to add I'm guilty of this myself. I find myself making snap judgments all the time when I see strangers based upon how they are dressed, how they act and even what race they are. Find myself doing this a lot regarding panhandlers when I'm driving. Where I live most of the panhandlers are Native Americans and there is a big problem of Native American homelessness here. I admit often when I see a Native American wearing ill fitting mismatched clothes on the side of the road, whether they are panhandling or not, the first though that enters my mind is drunk or druggie. For that matter yesterday I was approached by a younger white guy also wearing mismatched and dirty clothes and the first though that entered my mind was this guy is lazy and/or an addict, or a swindler if a white man is out panhandling. I suspect I'm not the only person and certainly not the only person that firmly believes I'm not racist or have any intrinsic bias to have these thoughts.
Thanks I appreciate it. I know the OP's history on this board but I don't know whether this thread is meant to troll and don't think it's worth speculating whether it is or not. This is one of the most important questions we're dealing with I think it merits serious discussion.
Likely because you didn't have a prior record of violent crime, the moment his prior record popped up on them, it heightens their fear markedly. Now I wasn't born in the US, nor am I living there now, but i'd visit my grand parents a fair bit when i was younger and i have lived in the US for several years, my wife is american also and we'll probably be moving back, but when i've had to deal with police, on a cpl occasions i've visibly watched their shoulders sag in relaxation the moment i open my mouth, why? because i don't have an american accent. Moreso than any place i've been (and before all this covid stuff went down i'd been in a few extremely poor places in asia and africa this last year or so), i've never noticed police as "on guard" as american police (she was in the passenger seat and even mentioned their unusual cordiality, the body language i first saw though was just something else if you've ever experienced anything different). I don't even know if that's even fixable, two parties with extremely heightened tensions are always going to have a high level of poor outcomes, and you can't really train that out of either party.
A lot of it is based on a LACK of previous interactions. Most racists I have encountered seem to live in a bubble where they don't spend a lot of time with blacks as peers. Their views are shaped by what they hear from others, the media, or very limited interactions that are heavily skewed.
Because he's black and you are Asian. Because you had a better education and are surrounded by better role models. You climb a 10 degree inclined ladder starting at step 3 while he climbed a 60 degree inclined ladder starting at step 0 with the step moving down. Outside of education and surrounding, stereotyping and bias is everywhere. Racists are few. It's much more effective to drop the racist labeling (it's not accurate for most anyway) and focus on destroying those stereotyping and bias. People would be much more willing if they don't have their back against the wall defending themselves. It's hard enough to get people to look inside and see their bias and stereotyping - such as their fear of big large black man.
Did you ever try one of your chokeholds on your business partner? Did he just tap out or did he counter? This is thought control Judo. You’re being a human like every other on this planet. You never have to explain the way you feel about certain people, things, places. It is called freedom. Freedom of thoughts, of choice, of will. This is a big lie, don’t fall for it. They get a decent guy like you to go along with their evil schemes to re-examine your thoughts and your actions on a daily basis. This isn’t about racism, police brutality, civil rights or any other bullshiet they’re selling you. This is a cultural revolution coming to America. I’ll have a thread soon where we can dissect what the hell is happening around us and don’t fall for the bullshiet or is it too late?
Question - how far is humor allowed to go? E.g., is it ok to joke about "ebonics", or is that a big no-no?
Meanwhile this professor gets to keep his job https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/us/p...ty-north-carolina-wilmington-adams/index.html
Didn't know where this one belongs but it's kind of ridiculous. People 'outraged' for coach Swinney having this shirt that reads "Football matters" saying he's tone deaf. I saw him wear it a press conference in 2018 and coaches can be slobs always wearing the same thing. What's next? trash Steve Urkel for participating in a show called Family Matters? And why is no one talking about Family Matters? Wonderful show. Steve should have never been bullied. He was undoubtedly the best basketball player in his basketball squad, some big names like Zach Randolph in that team. I found his game to be a fusion of all styles. He Eurosteped before Manu and ran the court like Westbrook. Shall we look at the tape? Is that a yes?
It’s what I hear everywhere I go and from the people in my business circles (contractors, engineers, developers). Now keep in mind, I’m in northwest Harris County and do a lot of business in Conroe and the Woodlands. So it’s expected. But there is a passion that is new. And the disgust of the MSM is #1 talking point.
I would never trade places with you. Bitter and angry suits you though. If Biden does win, I’m still fine. If Trump wins I doubt you could say the same. I’ll take whatever perception you have of me. Because we both know we could care less what each other thinks.
We are all unconsciously judging each other based off social hierarchies. When I lived in Europe, i realized we as Americans used accents as an implicit form of class. For me, it was to distinguish myself from immigrants. Ofc, it's easier to see when you become the immigrant. I've been reading more and more that implicit bias training doesn't really hold in the workplace. I think it's main goal as it's currently practiced isn't to wipe out unconscious and gradually learned behavior, rather more to shut down unacceptable hierarchical thinking/actions in the workplace and dive into the norms and order the company leadership sets down. This is why some people find it capricious and superficial to varying degrees. For cops, their "offices" are sometimes areas people tell you to stay away from, so their sample size is already skewed. Then they have to incorporate learned behavior from older members who established the previous order, which may or may not have garnered measurable results but undoubtedly had lasting impact culturally. Not an easy task... This question over class hierarchies used to be the heart of the philosophical divide between economic liberals and economic conservatives (pre Clinton). Liberals wanted to save everyone through gov support whereas cons argued to save everyone through free markets (and the government!), you lift the economic waters. Conservatives are more honest in that regard because they wanted social order and accepted what we see around us everyday. Liberals as a whole are more deluded with how hierarchies work because everyone in the big tent has an idea how to make everyone else succeed ...through their own personal experiences and biases without having to live or identify each experience and how it fits. If i heard Hillary or Democrat power brokers call my state a flyover and not have a single visit in months, I'd be just as pissed. When Trumpers claim liberals are destroying America, its not only the culture wars, but the visible proof of immigrants reforming dying towns and making them thrive but with the physical changes of the town "not being theirs" anymore. English Only is a polite form of resistance that can be interpreted in different ways. White Genocide is at the other end that expresses these sentiments without ambiguity. All of these strained distinctions were because Americans rejected European socialism, who had bigger interests to tackle classism than race, and because we never truthfully reconciled our racist white supremacist history, such as Confederate symbols and the subtle racism non-South states harbor as well. Trumpists saw neither was working for them and started using race as justification for their own victimization. This is just a standard cycle of American owners stoking race relations to divide the classes and prevent organized opposition for fairer profit sharing. Look to the percentage of Americans owning stocks, let alone other investment vehicles and their strategy has been largely successful. So i think the introspection about snap judgements is good but also unhealthy if you deny what those snap judgements are. Better to focus your energy on what the better replacement is because tearing down one hierarchy means there's another one replacing it. Social cons are terrified of the replacement or the unknown new social order. Both sides will likely agree that rich whites will dominate the elite establishment for decades to come, but that's a layer in class most of us here won't mingle with. Being on that level will be the minimum requirement for you to be able to communicate to each other.
