Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I dont think all are 'prejudiced' (using the word in a bad sense) : I do think all have a preference, a subjective opinion, from what theyve been taught, heard, or have experienced . We would be far wiser to look at the INNER person instead of how their name sounds, what skin color they have, their place of national origin, et al...
Lastly, its wasnt my intention to create a strawman regarding racial problems , if that is how you interpreted it. Suffice it to say based on evidence, that racial prejudice is still alive and well in America in all facets of American society including the Corporate world.
I know you weren't throwing up a straw-man argument, unlike some of our "Blame Everything On Whites" people here who are so closed-minded that they cannot even think.
Everybody has prejudices/preferences. And they're not necessarily bad, though some people will insist on interpreting it that way. I'm not a fan of Boiled Collard Greens. Tried them, don't like them. Does that mean I'm prejudiced against Black Cuisine and Culture? To some, yes. I'm also not a fan of Sushi, so I suppose that means I hate Asians too. I married a White woman over 25 years ago. Does that mean I dislike all women of darker color? To some people, yes, that's exactly what that means.
There are people who insist on reading racism and prejudicial bigotry into EVERYthing.
And I agree 100% that racial prejudice is alive and well in America. But it is NOT coming only from Whites. In fact, some of the worst of it is coming from minority groups - some toward each other, and a lot of it toward Whites.
I know you weren't throwing up a straw-man argument, unlike some of our "Blame Everything On Whites" people here who are so closed-minded that they cannot even think.
Everybody has prejudices/preferences. And they're not necessarily bad, though some people will insist on interpreting it that way. I'm not a fan of Boiled Collard Greens. Tried them, don't like them. Does that mean I'm prejudiced against Black Cuisine and Culture? To some, yes. I'm also not a fan of Sushi, so I suppose that means I hate Asians too. I married a White woman over 25 years ago. Does that mean I dislike all women of darker color? To some people, yes, that's exactly what that means.
There are people who insist on reading racism and prejudicial bigotry into EVERYthing.
And I agree 100% that racial prejudice is alive and well in America. But it is NOT coming only from Whites. In fact, some of the worst of it is coming from minority groups - some toward each other, and a lot of it toward Whites.
Im with you on sushi and collard greens ! Ill also throw in : Grits, brussel sprouts, and slimey oysters .
This thread reminds me of a time when i was into the bar-hopping scene and i was sitting at a nice bar in a Hotel with 2 females who were friends to my right ; one of them was giving advice to the other and saying :' You shouldnt trust Men with beards' . I happened to have just grown a beard and mustache and am pretty sure she was referring/looking at me when she was vocalizing her prejudice ; I just kind of sighed (hopefully loud enough for them both to hear me) . Its amazing just how shameless people are willing to go with thier prejudices.
This thread reminds me of a time when i was into the bar-hopping scene and i was sitting at a nice bar in a Hotel with 2 females who were friends to my right ; one of them was giving advice to the other and saying :' You shouldnt trust Men with beards' . I happened to have just grown a beard and mustache and am pretty sure she was referring/looking at me when she was vocalizing her prejudice ; I just kind of sighed (hopefully loud enough for them both to hear me) . Its amazing just how shameless people are willing to go with thier prejudices.
Yep. Indeed it is.
Right now - as I sit on my lazy butt typing - across the street from me, there is a church youth group of some sort that is cleaning up a house & property where an older lady lives. Keep in mind that I'm in a Black neighborhood. Every single one of these kids is White - as is there leader.
There's more to the story, of course. The lady actually has lots of money, and she has grandsons in town that won't have anything to do with her. During the winter I blow all the snow off her driveway & sidewalk, and check in on her regularly. Another neighbor also looks in on her and takes her places - so she's not exactly alone.
Even so... There's this group of 12-15 White kids cleaning up her place. And though I don't know what anybody could find to criticize about that, I'm sure somebody will find something.
Can you elaborate on Point #2 along with specific examples, for our edification ? Thanks.
The careful reader will note that I did not endorse any of the six points, but merely listed them as perceptions that some white people harbor about blacks in our community. Accordingly, I will not endeavor to give you examples that would justify the attitude conveyed in Point 6, either. I believe the attitude exists among some people, and they can supply you their own specific examples, for your edification.
Im very glad you havent seen it in your personal life. I sure have , and, an ABC's 20/20 expose done a couple years back on white and black employees of ABC trying to apply for jobs , PROVED my point very accurately. A different 20/20 expose was also conducted on facial looks utilizing two White females...and the 'better' looking female won out consistently -- both with the same qualifications . If you want to pretend theres no racial bias in America so it makes America look better to you, you can ; however, Blacks especially are at a disadvantage .. especially darker ones. (Im white by the way, but wish for equal opportunity regardless of skin color) . Theres a tremendous amount of bias in America and it comes in many forms . And this post of mine is not only sensicle, but highly truthful regardless of your opinion or personal experience. Those that dont wish to suppress reality, can see that.
I said the premise of the THREAD, not your post genius, and I'm not trying to supress any realities. I don't deny that their are issues of racial disparity, but to many people are crying wolf about it. That is a reality that IS being supressed. Crying 'racism', or 'discrimination' has become a tool of revenge. Someone is denied a job, access to a club, what have you. Rather than looking at qualifications, proper dress and appearance, attitude (thats a biggy) if the denied person happens to be a minority, they take the easy road and say it was all about race, sex, etc, even if it was not. Thus the REAL cases, the ones that do deserve attention, are not looked at as seriously as they should be.
My point is that everybody is prejudiced on multiple levels. And that's not always even a bad thing, because just about anything can be identified as a prejudice. And if it's absurd to say that our current President got elected because he's taller (this whole "taller candidate gets elected" thing is true, by the way), it's also absurd to point at any and every prejudice as the root of racial problems.
It is definitely true that we all have biases and prejudices. It is also true that every prejudice does not cause racial problem. This should be a given. It is, however, accurate to state that racial prejudice does exist. And, it is also the case that oftetimes the pervasiveness of racial prejudice and racism gets minimized.
When a person talks about racism, or when they talk about racial prejudice, I contend that it would be absurd to automatically assume that they are attributing all of life's problems to this. They may simply be talking about the reality that racial prejudice and racism exists.
For some reason it just seemed important to mention this.
The thing is "everyone has prejudices", which I mostly agree with, would mean that those in the minority situation are the worst off. The prejudices of a majority is going to have more strength than that of a minority. In a free-market society like ours that's especially going to be true if the minority is poorer.
So the worst off would be a group that's small and poor. On that basis the Cheyenne, Navajo, Sioux, or Ute would likely be the worst off. Although prejudice to Indians has abated some. So another possibility is Dominicans (Dominican Republic, not Dominica) who have a low per-capita income and represent less than 1% of the population.
Blacks and Appalachian Whites would also be pretty bad off in this schematic as both a minority and a group with a low GDP. They'd have a slight advantage in being larger than Indian tribes, Hmong, or Dominicans. Although African-American sub-groupings, like the Gullah of the Carolinas, might be in an extremely bad position as poor and small. (That stated there is a good deal of Gullah pride and writers or artists of that ancestry.)
Last edited by Thomas R.; 07-14-2009 at 02:14 PM..
Reason: I thought Thomas was Gullah, but guess not.
The thing is "everyone has prejudices", which I mostly agree with, would mean that those in the minority situation are the worst off. The prejudices of a majority is going to have more strength than that of a minority. In a free-market society like ours that's especially going to be true if the minority is poorer.
This is also true. That is why many scholars argue that racism is tied to "power." The argument is that racial prejudice exists with ALL groups. However, not all groups are accorded equal power. Thus, when racial prejudices get expressed, they have less of a negative impact (at an institutional and societal level) on groups that have power, and a much greater negative impact on groups with less power.
It is definitely true that we all have biases and prejudices. It is also true that every prejudice does not cause racial problem. This should be a given. It is, however, accurate to state that racial prejudice does exist. And, it is also the case that oftetimes the pervasiveness of racial prejudice and racism gets minimized.
When a person talks about racism, or when they talk about racial prejudice, I contend that it would be absurd to automatically assume that they are attributing all of life's problems to this. They may simply be talking about the reality that racial prejudice and racism exists.
For some reason it just seemed important to mention this.
davey123, bless your heart, but it has been mentioned to him quite a few times by quite a few people. There are only so many ways you can explain the same concept to a person before you just have to concede that they are not interested in understanding another point of view. In his mind, any mention of the disadvantages of minorities (any minority, because he doesn't even want to acknowledge institutionalized sexism), like some sick Pavlovian response, he goes into rant on "we all want to be victims".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
