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Stockholm Syndrome???? What I am saying is that, black men are in a unique situation only because the media, and gangsta rap keeps the negative stereotype going, and going, and going.
Black men have been dealing with these issues of being stereotyped all over the world way before the first rap lyrics were ever put to a record! When see posts like this I see why we get treated the way we do, too many of us love being treated as second class citizens. Hard to feel sorry for people with your mentality.
If Trevon's father had given the same advice to his son that you gave yours, he might be alive.
When I was young my father told me I would run into enough trouble in life without looking for it.
sounds much more like advise George Zimmerman's dad should have given. I'm not sure George was capable to internalize instructions. So most likely it would have gone in one ear...not computed...then floated out the other...
as much as black criminals are at fault for making us look bad, people who profile and stereotype are equally at fault for how non criminal, working, responsible black men are treated in this country.
Most people aren't profiling solely based in race, it's also age, gender, attire, demeanor, where they're at etc.
Most people aren't profiling solely based in race, it's also age, gender, attire, demeanor, where they're at etc.
Forrest Whitaker was followed out of a deli and frisked by an zealous, hopefully fired employee. Henry Luis Gates was arrested for trying to get into his own home. these are older, rich, classy men. I think it's mostly about color.
Forrest Whitaker was followed out of a deli and frisked by an zealous, hopefully fired employee. Henry Luis Gates was arrested for trying to get into his own home. these are older, rich, classy men. I think it's mostly about color.
It can happen to anyone of any age. My father has been followed around in stores when he was in his 40s. He wasn't dressed like a thug. He wasn't behaving like a thug. He was minding his own business. Didn't stop him from getting followed. He got followed by the police on his way to church one morning. In his 40s, with his children in the car, everyone dressed up for church. You can't get any more non-threatening than that. It didn't stop a police officer from following my father, with his children in the car.
It happened to me. I was 23 and at a bookstore inside of a mall. I was followed around by the store clerk. I was the only Black customer in that bookstore during that time. I was dressed like I just came back from church. I dressed in a suit, and was doing what everyone else in the bookstore was doing, reading a book. Didn't stop someone from following me around the store, and then asking "is there anything I can help you find?" 2 or 3 times. Now, I used to work in retail. I was told to ask that question if I suspected someone was going to steal. I suspect that the store clerk really did suspect I was going to steal. Now, the age thing. There were some teenagers in there, mainly White males. Some were dressed liked skateboarders. None of them were being followed in the store. After a while, I just decided to leave that bookstore, and to this day, I refuse to shop at that particular bookstore location.
This stuff still happens. Being nicely dressed, or being older does not stop one from getting profiled. It didn't stop my father or me from getting followed around.
When looking at the reason Zimmerman was found not guilty, I came to the conclusion that I shouldn't be angry at Zimmerman for being found not guilty. I'm angry at the judicial system for allowing him to kill an unarmed innocent male (who happened to be black) over a basic fist fight that he was losing. In addition, I am angry at the fact that black males who are committing crimes have caused people to fear and be biased toward all black men.
Law abiding black males are, in a sense, victims too. Law abiding black males are victims of black males who commit crimes at an disproportionally higher rate than white males if that stat is accurate (even though there are reasons for their behavior which would need to be addressed in another forum) and this has resulted in BIAS and FEAR among white Americans as well as black Americans living in communities where they are reading about and seeing on the news crimes committed by black males.
Unfortunately, this is a problem for black males like me, who have never committed a crime, and basically can't walk down many streets in America without someone profiling us and asking what is this black guy up to or doing? This is my reality as a black man in 2013, and probably will continue to be as long as black males continue to commit crimes at high rates. I have already warned and told my two black sons that if they are confronted by anyone, try to be reasonable, courteous, and respectful or you may end up like Trayvon Martin.
What are your thoughts about this topic?
I can understand your anger towards those who act stupid. I have often felt that same embarrassment. That being said, Blacks have been hated and treated poorly long before bad behavior among certain segments of the Black population was being put out there by the media. Blacks have been stereotyped throughout history. Now, I can understand that it does not help when Black criminals commit alot of violent crime. It doesn't, and it is embarrassing. However, I can't stop some criminal from behaving like a criminal. Some of these very thugs might make fun of us for "acting White". We can't stop someone from hating us. We can only control ourselves. This is how I see it. Criminals within the Black population feed the stereotype, and then there are racist persons who are going to hate Black people no matter what. The fact is, no one should be judging a Black individual based on the worst of the Black population, but rather, judge an individual by that person's merit. Blacks have been judged based on skin color long before Black crime rates went up the roof.
Law abiding black males are, in a sense, victims too. Law abiding black males are victims of black males who commit crimes at an disproportionally higher rate than white males if that stat is accurate (even though there are reasons for their behavior which would need to be addressed in another forum) and this has resulted in BIAS and FEAR among white Americans as well as black Americans living in communities where they are reading about and seeing on the news crimes committed by black males.
It's the same thing as people judging conservatives. These people have belief, are not out to hurt anyone but low and behold the liberal media and democrats call them all kind of names including calling them the Taliban. Sorry, you are getting some of the medicine the liberal media is dishing out on others.
In American Taliban, Markos Moulitsas pulls no punches as he compares how the Republican Party and Islamic radicals.
Chris Matthews (Boston Bombings): “Normally, domestic terrorist people tend to be on the far right, although that’s not a good category,” Matthews said on Monday’s show. “Extremists, let’s call them that.
Blacks, Dems, Libs have no problem with Bonds and Liberals discriminating against conservatives either.
Store clerks are like the most overly helpful people I know, tripping over themselves just to come to my assistance. It's like I'm famous or something.
And don't forget the random police escorts to and from wherever you're going. It's like I'm the president...can't go anywhere without the police. I mean what if I get mugged? No, no...it's better that they tail me for 15 minutes...
But I always feel bad when I walk into a McDonalds or wherever and the guy serving me is white. It's like I get too excited about it....talking about "can I get extra ketchup and not one, but two, forks?".....even though all I ordered was a soda.
Meh you take the good with the bad. When it comes right down to it, I try not to be a bad person and that's all I can do, or be asked of.
Stockholm Syndrome???? What I am saying is that, black men are in a unique situation only because the media, and gangsta rap keeps the negative stereotype going, and going, and going.
I think the distorted image of black men is not due to today's media, nor even the level of crime committed by black males. It goes way back to America's racist roots and the entrenched misconceptions that black men are to be feared, and are inexplicably more aggressive and violent than white men.
There's no better way to oppress a race than to imbue them with animalistic properties.
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