Racism Is Alive and Well in America

[lavender]

 

[sexy-girl]

i agree lavender i also think its sad when people say things like racism isnt about so much nowadays ... it is .. just as much as ever really


and notice this person said im not a racist ... most racists say that

 

[Bob Peale]

Other person: "Wait. Don't brand me a racist just because of some political correctness."

Huh?

I guess he got too close to the fumes at the last "bonfire" and inhaled.

 

[thumbs2_ca]

My God that is disgusting.
You did handle that very well though.

 

[lobito]

Lav, THANKS for posting this.

Sadly this world isn't as tolerant as it should be in this day & age. The U.S., commonly known as "America", has a bad reputation, but Europe seems , READ THAT AGAIN, SEEMS to have more openly racist people.

I've said it before, and I'll say it here again, America consists of NORTH, CENTRAL & SOUTH America. You can go anywhere else in the Americas, and it won't be as bad as in the U.S.

What's wrong wtih people of different ethnicities coming into the country that a particular persn lives in? NOTHING, ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOTHING! If there was something wrong with that, then how the hell did their ancestors get in that country?

 

[*Lazer*]

Whether it is racist or elitist or outright hostility we are blessed with all types of people who cannot accept. It is easier to blame the world's ills on someone stupid or black or irish or whatever. People fear change and when you confront them on the inanity of those fear based attitudes, you teach them something. In spite of what the cynics would have you believe, change starts with one person and spreads. Your leadership will help some reexamine their petty thoughts. We each have more power to change this archaic way of thinking then we realize.

 

[sexy-girl]

england SEEMS pretty open maybe because we have a large ethnic community ... boris becker moved to england because he had a black wife and he said england was more open to interracial realationships


but having said that i still see and hear alot of racism on the news and from people i meet ... if england is one of the more open nations and its still visable here then its not very good worldwide

 

[InternationalFunboy]

I've been on both sides of this issue. By that I mean to say that i have been one to throw about racial slurs, and I have been caught off guard by them as well.
The thing about Florida at least as far as I've seen and heard is that it is the south. It's no different than Alabama or Mississippi, in both of which I have lived extended periods of time. Racism is very prevalent in MS and AL. Well, i should say "racial talk" is very prevalent becuase in my experience no person who tosses around words like nigger and spick has anywhere near the balls to back it up, or really even realizes how caveman-ish it is.

When i lived on the Alabama coast in Gulf Shores, the people there were upperclass, educated progressive smart very open-minded people (face it, ocean front COSTS). There was no racial talk....but you go 10 miles north of the beach and you are in Redneck-ville, Mulletville, whatever. And with that comes the regular amount of racial reference.
Florida has ALOT of coast. the middle of FL is hick central while the coastal areas are progressive...and there is a thick grey area between......
Florida is no more rascist than any other place.....it think it's the luck of the draw kiddo....

 

[p_p_man]

I think you're not racist Lavvy but...

I wish you hadn't said this...

"lavender: "My parents knew that I dated an African diplomat's son."

To me that is a racist phrase. It's as if you are saying that it was 'OK to date him because of his father's job but if he did not have such a high social standing...'

Before you have a go at me it's only the impression I get and probably I get it from a careless piece of writing. But I suppose that's where having to be polically correct gets you, in a field full of landmines.

It's like someone I heard say last week (in the context of supporting a child overseas with monthly donations) "Oh we've got one of those he's a leper". She didn't mean to say it as it sounded and she is by no means an unkind woman. But the fact is she did say it

Just as you wrote your phrase...

 

[lavender]

 

[KillerMuffin]

Racism is everywhere. It's losing its grip, I think, slowly but surely. These days it's not unusual to see interracial couples, though it is different enough to stare at them when you do. Interracial couples no longer have to fear a lynching in most places, and the places they do have to fear are shrinking.

The war with racism is a slow one and it takes anti-racist sentiments from ALL races.

 

[shadowsource]

No it wasn't racist, pp

It was CLASS conscious.

BTW, "mud people" is a notion purveyed by Christian Identity, which claims that the old NATO countries are all founded by the lost Tribes of Israel (amazingly, Denmark was created by the Tribe of Dan!). They say the contemporary Jews are devils substituted long ago in Babylon. They say America is the promised land. They say loads of shit, and they kill people, too. They are among the biggest assholes on the planet, a disgrace to all Caucasians (which word they say proves their theory because the "tribes" migrated throught the Caucasus Mts.).

 

[p_p_man]

I realised that Lavvy...

and the person you were writing about is obviously an out and out racist...it's just that sometimes a tiny slip can lead to the drawing of terribly wrong conclusions...






However moving on to the way the other person called people of darker colour "muds". As a non-racist I would have preferred non-whites. "Muds" does indicate your correspondent's extremism.

We now have thousands of Kosovans in the UK (so many in fact the the Government have finally admitted that the situation is now out of control and that they don't really know how many of them there are!). The common name for them and anyone else from that part of Europe who is Moslem is "Scarves".

Everyone knows what it means and it saves having to remember a whole stream of different countries. But is it racist?

 

[Laurel]

People need to put the blame somewhere. It's like the Star-bellied Sneetches, with their Stars Upon Thars. If every "race" on the planet interbred to the point where we were all a yellow-tan, then there'd be those blaming short people for the world's ills. Or stupid people (contrary to the fact that great evil ahas been done by very intelligent people). Or people who talk with a lisp. Or women. Or men. I really don't believe that racism or sexism or any -ism will ever vanish so long as humans are insecure and lazy.

That said, those attitudes don't have to be the norm - and gradually they're retreating into the shadows as people begin to call people on their offensive statements and attitudes. What was most offensive about that conversation was not the use of the "mud" to refer to people, but the fact that he felt dark skinned people were ruining the world. Thanks for calling him on it, lavy.

 

[lobito]

p p man, in my opinion, Scarves is JUST AS RACIST as Muds.

but then what do I know?

 

[p_p_man]

Reading this thread I'm beginning to realise...

that America probably is a more racist society than the UK.

Copied from KillerMuffin's Post:

"These days it's not unusual to see interracial couples, though it is different enough to stare at them when you do."

In the UK our staring days are long past. We would notice an interacial couple in the same way that we notice one partner of a white couple would have red hair.

 

[shadowsource]

Re: Reading this thread I'm beginning to realise...

that America probably is a more racist society than the UK.{/B]That's debatable. Both countries see racist fatalities quite often. Why quibble? We don't have national organizations like the National Front, etc. You don't have 100 KKs wandering around. Our skinheads are just copying yours. You didn't have McVeigh. Still, "scarves" in that light is flat-out racist.

Copied by pp from KillerMuffin's Post:

"These days it's not unusual to see interracial couples, though it is different enough to stare at them when you do."

PP: In the UK our staring days are long past. We would notice an interacial couple in the same way that we notice one partner of a white couple would have red hair.

You should know, pp, that Killer lives in Kentucky. It wasn't until the 1960s that the US Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's law against whites and black being allowed to marry was declared unconstitutional. I'm not saying that Kentuckians are stupid or primitive. Every state has its own weirdnesses and structural injustice. But many of us here were alive when interracial marriage in a number of states was ILLEGAL. Hence, some people might still stare in KY. They sure don't stare much in NY State, even way out in the conservative countryside.

Also in the 1960s, the water fountains in the central train station in Washington, DC still had segregated water fountains!

 

[Bob Peale]

Re: Re: Reading this thread I'm beginning to realise...

They sure don't stare much in NY State, even way out in the conservative countryside.

Actually, they do. Or at least they did until very, very recently.

 

[WriterDom]

Re: No it wasn't racist, pp

It was CLASS conscious.

BTW, "mud people" is a notion purveyed by Christian Identity, which claims that the old NATO countries are all founded by the lost Tribes of Israel (amazingly, Denmark was created by the Tribe of Dan!). They say the contemporary Jews are devils substituted long ago in Babylon. They say America is the promised land. They say loads of shit, and they kill people, too. They are among the biggest assholes on the planet, a disgrace to all Caucasians (which word they say proves their theory because the "tribes" migrated throught the Caucasus Mts.).

Maybe I'm missing something here, but you aren't lumping all of Christianity in with nutcase fringe groups like groups Godhatesfags and Army of God are you?

 

[Harbinger]

Wow, lavender, you showed a lot more patience than I would have, good for you.

As for Kentucky, I live there, too. Seeing mixed race couples has become pretty common in the two larger cities that I am familiar with. However, in the rural areas people can still be very intolerant. The change that has taken place in just a few years, especially among young people, has been very notable.

I don't like the phrase "mixed race" by the way. It sounds divisive to me, instead of inclusive. I use it only in the context of this thread. As KM said in an earlier thread, we are all brown.

 

[Laurel]

Everyone knows what it means and it saves having to remember a whole stream of different countries. But is it racist?

That opens up a big, messy semantics game that I'm too pooped to play. I will say that a person's choice of words says a lot about their perspective. But let's take the word "mud" out of the picture and look at what was said.

Other perons: "I am not racist. I just believe Europe should not allow so many foreigners in."

...

Other person:"Have you ever dated a Mex or black?"

lavender: "Yes, both actually."

Other person: "How about sex with them?"

lavender: "Yes."

Other peron: "Jesus God, what would your parents think?"

Other person:"to put it bluntly...who in hell would want there daughter going out with a nigger. i wouldn't and don't know anyone who would"

From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition:

rac·ism n.
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

His statements clearly show that he believes certain races to be inferior to others. He believes that "foreigners" - in particular, dark-skinned "Mud"-colored foreigners - are making European travel less attractive. The implication is that he does not want to be around such people.

Furthermore, he states "to put it bluntly...who in hell would want there daughter going out with a nigger. i wouldn't and don't know anyone who would". Even if you leave aside the obviously antagonistic term "nigger", you're left with a statement that clearly states he would forbid his daughter from dating a man because of the color of his skin.

I think that sometimes these discussions get bogged down in semantics - arguing about why Blacks can say "nigga" but Whites can't say "nigger", or whether "Mud" is a slur. But what matters most is the content of a person's statements. As you can see here, this person is a racist according to the definition of racist. All his caterwauling about "political correctness" does not change the fact that he believes people of a different color are so inferior as to not be worthy of his own daughter.

What an asshole, IMHO. But he has the right to be an asshole. It's in the Constitution - the Infinite Assholery Amendment.

 

[Bob Peale]

Re: Re: Racism Is Alive and Well in America

What an asshole, IMHO. But he has the right to be an asshole. It's in the Constitution - the Infinite Assholery Amendment.

That's why I keep getting off

 

[shadowsource]

No, WD

Christian Identity is a special group that I'm not even convinced is Christian. Richard G Butler's church in Hayden Lake, Idaho - recently seized in a civil action - had a stained glass image of Adolf Hitler over their altar. These folks claim to be Christian, though, which I imagine helps them over the hump with certain uncritical recruits. They're nasty! The "church" whose member ran around Illinois shooting people last year is actually anti-Christian, but uses some of the imagery and language of Christianity. If you go to their website (I think it's Church of the Creator - their slogan is RAHOWA, racial holy war), you'll feel ill pretty quickly.

And Bob P: I've gone up north with black friends a number of times in recent years and been shocked at the total lack of interest. When I was growing up Upstate, they quite sucked about anyone who was different. Where did you have problems?

 

[Laurel]

Re: Re: Re: Racism Is Alive and Well in America

That's why I keep getting off

Aw, I thought that was because of all the hot women here.

 

[Ask For More]

Just a thought......recently theres been riots in the UK in Burnley and Oldhams, mainly between whites and Muslims/Indians. While the Indian/Muslim community went all out and blamed it completely on the whites, I couldn't help but notice a sniff of hypocrisy. The whites were blamed for not making any efforts to be accomodating towards the Muslims/Indians, but I didn't really see much effort on the other side either. In fact, I remember walkng through central manchester on one of the days of the Oldham riots, and seeing a huge group of indian youths waiting at the bus stop for Oldham, all carrying some form of weapony with them.

So while in London all of us can be confident that racism's pretty much extinct, it's definitely alive outside of London; and not just from one side.