OOTB's Political Thread . ..
- Thread starter BillyL
- Start date
I hope you didn't infer that from my post. It was simply intended to relay how numb this thread makes my brain.
It stays numb enough on it's own, lol.
I need to numb my brain sometimes. It doesn't get enough of that now that I've stopped drinking.
In my experience the other ethnicities tend to separate themselves.
Since I am no longer employed by the Unites States gubmint mine has numbed up right regularly, lol. As Mel Gibson once said...
"FREEEEEEDOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!"
I almost enlisted at 19, but my mother guilted me out of it. It was weird because my mother's side of the family were all ultra-religious pacifists, and my father's side had a long line of military men, going all the way back to Gettysburg, and possibly as far back as Hastings.
Photos: Women’s March Protesters Call For Trump to ‘Drop Dead,’ His Children to Be Caged
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/...-trump-to-drop-dead-his-children-to-be-caged/
Ahh, the tolerant left. Of course, this is the same outfit that won't recognize Israel as a country, and have kicked out some of its Jewish members.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/...-trump-to-drop-dead-his-children-to-be-caged/
Ahh, the tolerant left. Of course, this is the same outfit that won't recognize Israel as a country, and have kicked out some of its Jewish members.
I find it odd that things are deemed racist if you use facts/stats to deduce something negative about a race, but not if you use them to deduce something positive.
i.e. a disproportionate percentage of NBA players and skill position NFL players happen to be black, therefore you can say they're more athletic on average = good observation. Suspensions and expulsions are disproportionately by kids who happen to be black*, therefore you can say they're more disruptive on average = racist AF.
*haven't looked at the data to say this definitively but assuming what transplant said is true for this discussion.
So is it cool again to group people together and generalize by race, or nah?
You’d think the people claiming society is all fair and balanced would have better arguments instead of saying the same stupid crap over and over again.
Black folks weren’t allowed to own property for like the first 200 years of this country’s existence. Meanwhile the federal government was essentially giving white families land for free. You don’t need to be an Econ major or a history buff to understand the inherited disadvantage.
Black folks are disproportionately sentenced to harsher sentences than white folks for the same crimes.
Anyone with a black sounding name is less likely to get a call back than an applicant with a white sounding name and the same qualifications.
Countless neighborhoods that are predominantly black are disproportionately underserved in terms of education and basic social services.
And that’s just tip of the iceberg. Anyone arguing that society is equal has no clue what they’re talking about. Anyone who argues that black folks do this to themselves is probably a racist, even if they’ve convinced themselves otherwise.
Black folks weren’t allowed to own property for like the first 200 years of this country’s existence. Meanwhile the federal government was essentially giving white families land for free. You don’t need to be an Econ major or a history buff to understand the inherited disadvantage.
Black folks are disproportionately sentenced to harsher sentences than white folks for the same crimes.
Anyone with a black sounding name is less likely to get a call back than an applicant with a white sounding name and the same qualifications.
Countless neighborhoods that are predominantly black are disproportionately underserved in terms of education and basic social services.
And that’s just tip of the iceberg. Anyone arguing that society is equal has no clue what they’re talking about. Anyone who argues that black folks do this to themselves is probably a racist, even if they’ve convinced themselves otherwise.
What is exactly a ‘black sounding name’? You sound like a racist dude!
Brah, I grew up poor. It isn't reserved to just black people.
I agree with these three points, I've seen the supporting studies for these and they're factual (your first point of not being allowed to own property for the first 200 years I feel like is no longer a factor except for whites with truly generational wealth that didn't need to buy property of their own).
Shouldn't the best way to respond to these is to fix the problems themselves though? Doing things unrelated like making it easier for blacks to get into colleges seems like a "two wrongs to make a right" type solution.
It’s still a factor. Even though generational wealth dilutes over time, something as simple as your parents owning a home is a huge advantage. If you inherit a house, that could be a 200,000 dollar leg up. Or more.
If we funded black high schools adequately then they might not need the help getting into college. I would like to solve those problems to an extent where disadvantaged minorities don’t need a leg up. But until the problem is actually solved, maybe that is the fairest outcome. I’m not a fan of affirmative action type policy. I would prefer to address the actual inequality. But until those problems get solved, I’m fine with black students getting into college more easily. That being said I don’t want to see deserving white students not get in. We should expand enrollment so that both students can get in if that’s what it takes.
Should I complain about my plight in life compared to yours? We all have obstacles in life. You can either cry about it and do nothing, or fight.
Yes, poor is a universal experience that all races and ethnicities endure. It should be a common thread that would allow for more empathy. In some cases, it does.
But, to put some perspective on how it came to be an even more harsh impediment for blacks than white, I always thought the story from Gene Hackman's character in Mississippi Burning was exceptional:
Ward: Where does it come from? All this hatred?
Anderson: You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old negro farmer that lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was... well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. My daddy hated that mule, 'cause his friends were always kidding him that they saw Monroe out plowing with his new mule, and Monroe was going to rent another field now he had a mule. One morning, that mule showed up dead. They poisoned the water. After that, there wasn't any mention about that mule around my daddy. It just never came up. One time, we were driving down that road, and we passed Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He just packed up and left, I guess, he must of went up north or something. I looked over at my daddy's face. I knew he done it. He saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he *was* ashamed. He looked at me and said, "If you ain't better than a niggger, son, who are you better than?"
Ward: You think that's an excuse?
Anderson: No it's not an excuse. It's just a story about my daddy.
Ward: Where's that leave you?
Anderson: My old man was just so full of hate that he didn't know that bein' poor was what was killin' him.
That is true. And, crying about it is probably not going to improve it. But, LACKING EMPATHY is also going to cause it to continue to rot as well. Making excuses like yours, to claim that "well, they've had the same chances as me, because I was poor" isn't empathy.
I believe you. It was a somewhat recent film that was pretty critical of white people in Jackson, MS in the 60's. Not your type of movie, I'm sure.
I don't lack empathy. I just lack white guilt.
1963, I believe. The story he was telling was probably from 40 years before that. So what?
Which is where the need for empathy is strongest.
So, that dramatized movie was set 55 years ago, in the least "progressive" state in the Union, and I'm supposed to live my life around that?
You act like black people are the only ones who have faced obstacles in the US. Both the Irish and German faced resistance as well. Why are those peoples doing okay while black people have had "issues"?
And why should I feel guilty about something in which I've never participated?
No, I don't "act like black people are the only ones." I just don't go your route and pretend they weren't oppressed immeasurably more than ANY other demographic or ethnicity. Or, that just because others who came here caught hell, that means that blacks were brought over here by the millions, against their will, in chains and forced to live their lives in slavery and that has left a perpetual mark on our culture and a social debt that can never be fully repaid, should just suck-it-up and get with the program and stop whining.
Blacks didn't "face resistance", either. They were kidnapped and brought here against their will and made to live as subhumans for a few hundred years and as second class citizens for at least 100 more after they could leave the plantations.
You grew up poor and stupid, and apparently the stupid stuck.
i saw The Ten Commandments when I was a kid and now I really hate Egyptians.
LOL... I can't dictate what you should feel.
You ARE participating! You've been doing it all day. Making excuses for white people and implying that black people endured the same adversity as the Irish is participation in abundance.
Did you ever watch Holocaust movies and hope the Nazi's would get away with their crimes?
Hey, they can always go back to Africa and be with "their people".
Look, this country isn't perfect, but there is still more economic mobility here than anywhere else in the world. Almost every person in this country faces obstacles during their lifetime. Dennis Leary had a great comment about this: "Life sucks, get a f***ing helmet."
Uh no. What’s your point? You are the one inferring that all southern white males are inherently racist because our lot in life. I guess I should just accept that whenever a black person is born I am indebted to that person for the rest of my existence because of the color of my skin.
I'm not inferring any of it. You are. And, these false equivalence attempts scream it even louder.
