Are we a "post-race America?"

It's simply more aversive now than it is overt.

You could maybe start a discussion on "are we a post-OVERT racism America." Maybe. Probably not even that, though.

 

Overt racism is alive and well.

Sincerely,
Tea Party

co-signed by,
The Internet

 

I like Obama because he is chocolate.

singed,

dbag, brain-dead liberals

 

Its not just black people. I'm Asian and I know racism is alive in America. Especially in Texas (not so much Houston, thank god)

 

Not possible on a large scale. Our last, best chance was probably right after World War II, when large-scale college education, suburban housing and American economic hegemony were all taking hold. No reason blacks couldn't have gotten a piece of that pie, middle-class whites couldn't have still stayed in the cities and completely eradicated these large, low-income neighborhoods. Instead, blacks were forced to galvanize politically and white institutions tried to placate them in ways that I think were detrimental to both groups in the long run.

Individually, though, I just can't complain. No one in my family can. Academic and professional mobility cures everything, at least in this country. I can't even count how may white Thanksgivings and church services I've (politely, apologetically and deferentially) turned down invitations to.

 

I automatically assume law professors and seated Senators with Columbia and Harvard degrees are underqualified if they're black. And I call black people "chocolate."

Signed,

Shovel ******* Facehole Assface Shovel Ass

 

As long as there are different races there will always be some form of racism, different cultures just think differently and it comes as no surprise to me in private he said those remarks.

 

There are only two races in America obviously-----black and white.

 

editorial in Houston Chroincle a week or so ago

 

We aren't but we are getting there.

 

Case in point.

 

I'm not sure if I know what "post-race" is supposed to mean, so I don't know if we've achieved it.

I don't think my experience is like what is described in the cnn article. I've had people feel too comfortable about my whiteness and whisper things to me that they wouldn't say in mixed-race company. But, I don't think I ever do that. Whatever racism I might have I like to keep overt.

 

I think that cartoon posted above, while funny, is racist.

That some of you cannot see that the cartoon is racist, is racist.

The thought that Tea Party supporters are inherently racist, is racist.

Special interest groups, whose sole purpose is to find alleged racism and finger-point and have thus power, money, and influence, are themselves racist.

In an attempt to answer the question: no, I suppose not.

 

is thinking the klan is racist, racist?

like whom?

 

I voted yes.

That is not entirely a true answer. I want to vote both yes and no. "No" for all the reasons previously stated. Of course there is still racism and inequality.
But to add to the discussion a bit I find that I personally encounter a very different degree of racism than my father or grandmother did as young adults. I think things are definately getting better.
I encounter fewer people with the sentiment that it is alright to be friends with someone of another race but not to date them. On the other hand there are a surprising number of people who alright with dating someone of another race but not marriage (in other words, treat them like a piece of meat until you are ready to settle down and have children).
Living in Houston certainly gives me a positive impression of race relations that I don't get visiting cities like Atlanta or Chicago or even New York. But part of it is generational. When I see younger people in any city they are often in mixed race groups where older generations are not. There is nothing wrong with talking to people within your own ethnicity but when you exclusively do so I think there is something you need to examine there, for your own sake if not for others.
Finally, I have to admit that as a mixed race (Black and Chinese) woman I do have it easier these days than many other minorities. It's hip to be mixed (as if I had anything to do with it). My hair is cooler than I am - I feel like a poser if I let my hair down. People expect me to be friendly towards them regardless of their race because I am perceived as having one foot in their camp. I have a brother who looks like Ben Harper and it works to his advantage.
These advantages haven't always been the case. In the eighties I was constantly encountering strangers demanding what race I "really" was so they could properly categorize me. Forms often didn't allow for mixed or even "other" as an option. And my hair was definately not considered cool in its natural state.
I know, the hair comments sound like merely lighthearted asides. But the reality is that for a lot of people the face and hair they were born with is hard to be proud of and grateful for when we live in a society that uses terms like "good hair" and "bad hair." And for women looks matter far more than they should and have a huge impact on self-confidence and consequently on relationships, academics and careers.

 

I think it will take a few more generations to get that way. For instance, when I was growing up in the 80s, I was not taught that other races are lesser or whatever. I most certainly didnt teach my kids that who are anywhere between 14 and 5 years old right now. There are some who still teach it, some who taught it when I was a kid, etc. You just gotta keep the cycle going until it fades away.

Most folks without a predetermined thought about other races will see that there is nothing wrong with a person based on race once they get to know some on a real level(not just "that guy at the office that I don't talk to much"). All races have idiots that do stupid things that some people assume are being done based on skin color. All races have their lower class citizens. Racist folks want to call out the ones of other races, but not see their own.