there is a difference between being proud of what you have made yourself individually and what you are born as. you were born white, you didnt do anything to become white, so why be proud of it. i did it too, it wasnt hard at all. i know, its just a thing that is inevitable that somebody will mention. yankees?! i'm a racist and i dont mind admitting it.
I would love wholeheartedly to believe that the difference between a white guy and a black guy are simply that of skin color. But unfortunately this does not hold up when looking at pure statistics, and numbers are not racist. Scottsdale, Arizona - 85% white and one of the safest cities in America according to crime statistics. Compton, Ca or Detroit, MI or New Orleans, La or Washington, DC majority black and a unusually high number of violent crimes. Is this sheer coincidence? Yes you can bring the economic argument into it but then why are those cities so poor and why do other cities thrive? Regardless of the reasons you tell me we have not reached a point where we can say everyone is the same b/c at that point all indicators would be equal regardless of what race makes up a certain city. I hate that but those are the facts, and unless we look at reasons why and stop ignoring them then they will persist. Ask yourself an honest question...would you as a white person move into a majority black city/neighborhood? If not, then you do see people as different regardless of your stated opinion. This is not simply lip service, but I do hope one day we can answer and say you know it really does not matter. I want all races to succeed and I want the majority of people to want to do good instead of harm. But I am not so engrossed by the idea that I turn a blind eye to some of the problems that currently exist. I do believe on a micro level we can feel there is little difference. I like my black neighbor better than all of my other neighbors. We use each others vehicles, we look after each others house when we are gone, we go out to eat together. I am able to see him and respect him as much as anyone else in my life. But on a macro level we can see that there are differences as a whole for whatever reasons, and not addressing those reasons or shouting racism at every turn does us little good in the long term.
i used to have black friends except my mom moved us out of that neighborhood because it became 95% black. my high school was very white/asian oriented and i had several black acquaintances, but nobody close enough to call a friend. i haven't had anyone black over to my house since before age 6. my 4.5 year old has had numerous friends of the negroid persuasion. i have no problem with it. unfortunately our church is like 98% white. i hate this fact but i don't think blacks feel comfortable there. society segregates itself. every school ive went to the black kids stay on one half and the white kids on the other. even when somebody does nothing to bring upon segregation it still naturally happens. if i knew any blacks well i would invite them over to my house tomorrow.
i absolutely would. in fact whites are not a majority in my current neighborhood. there is no majority of anything. not many blacks though. mostly chinese or japanese or indian and whites. i agree with tht entirely. i almost agree with that entirely too. i am not a closet racist, i love admitting it. unless i am in a job interview or trying to land a girl.
I lived in a mostly black neighborhood north of LSU for 19 years. But it was on a quiet dead-end street with many student renters and a low-crime part of that neighborhood. That was the difference. I wouldn't have lived three blocks over in another part of the neighborhood because of the crime. We had to be street-wise out in the neighborhood but we didn't get robbed or mugged on our street because it was our turf. When I finally bought a house, I picked a nicer very low crime neighborhood across the lakes with few renters that is 98% white. But there is a small black neighborhood just four blocks away that is middle-class and low-crime and I could live there, no problem, if there was a good deal on a house. I find that I don't have much of a problem with black folks that have a job and a home, keep insurance, keep their kids out of trouble, pay a house note and a car note, mow their grass, and owe VISA 1,000 bucks just like I do. As long as they don't paint their house hot pink with lime green shutters. It's the non-working young black thugs, dropouts, and gangsters that I avoid. I avoid white thugs, too, of course. There are some uneducated, trailer-park, low-life white neighborhoods around the parish that I wouldn't live in either.
I agree with red. I would have no problem moving into a black or hispanic neighborhood if it was economically lateral to me. In fact I'd rather live in a middlce class black neighborhood than a poor white one.
I prefer not to be a minority. Honestly, I'd feel a bit weird being one of the only white people in a neighborhood made up of almost entirely a single race (black). I can understand why black people have a bit of a bond to each other and relate just because of their race. Now, if it was all different kinds of races and everybody was a minority - I'd be okay with that.
Interesting discussion... I agree with Red. Its not would I but a matter of income for that neighborhood that makes the difference. Do I consider myself a racist? Yes and no What I mean about this is that I like and follow people like MJ, Shaq, the Iceman, Andrew Jones and other college and professional athletes in all sports. I applaud Bill Cosby for his stance, the old leaders of the blacks such as Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson are the real problems and are keeping black Americans from the success they could be having. Examples? any black athlete or actor or politician for starters. Then there are successful black people in every community. I would vote for some minority candidates in a heart beat but it would depend on where they stand on issues just like in any circumstance. Favorites, Colin Powell, JC Watts, Alan Keys, Condelezza Rice, Bobby Jindle. I realize Bobby Jindle isn't black but that is my point, other minorities should be included in the discussion. There is reverse racism movement in this country. What I mean by this is there are blacks that are racist against white people and call people like Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby and others "whites" because they were successful due to the white man. I worked with a guy at US Airways that was this way, Mr. Bell is all I will call him. There are good and bad of all races and I'm surprised that no one brought up anything other than black and white. I think part of the problem is that other races have been left out of this discussion, I don't think you can be totally fair about this discussion unless you throw in other races, middle eastern, Muslims. The thing is that some of these other races have had members of their races that were treated just as bad as blacks. You bet your butt I'm a racist when it comes to middle eastern or Muslims after September 11, do I want to offend anyone? No, not my intentions, I just don't trust them and would exit a plane and catch a different one if I feel threatened.
[QUOTE yankees?! [/QUOTE] Now there is just no excuse for being friends with those second class citizen. I am 3 weeks away from punching my one way ticket back to the Southland.
