I grew up very much the same paleness and more than a decade or 2 ago, I saw injustices on my college campus, I became friends with more people of color and much of it did open my eyes. We were talking about my fraternity who wanted to make a transferred student who was black go through pledgeship again after he did at his other school, just because he was going to be the first black. The house was divided and so I stood up among othes and called BS on the racists but 20+ years ago and stood up for what should have been the right thing to do. He was great student, on football team (I was out of state...I didn't go to college in state of Nebraska) there were still so many unwilling opinions on things of this nature from racist upbringing.
However, all this said, what is going on now in MUCH of this recent CLAIMS of racism is a media that is jumping to the lies to propel agenda and party agendas. Ferguson Mo is perfect example. Lies are spread and low information voters remember the first thing..the lie out there not the retraction is there even is one..not usually from media. They just shotgun and rush to judgement to fulfill what they believe ....that most whites are racists..that domestic white terrorism is biggest threat not radical islamists. We have a party today and media that is complicit with going with this daily narrative and only reporting when they think it fits narrative and bury stories when it doesn't. Who are the racists and people who stereotype the most? wow. I've often found it's my white liberal friends to be honest as well as media and most of academia
We have a media and social justice groups seemingly ONLY caring if the injustice is the very rare white on black violence or injustice meanwhile 90% of all blacks are shot by other blacks. ignoring the root cause of 90% of the issues that plague so many today.
Trying to prop up the 1% and make it ...yep see...all whites or cops are like this...see. That's media driven, it's politically motivated..and IMHO, it's wrong and killing race relations.
most people I talk to have no problem addressing true injustice, but when universities media and this young black man from wealthy black self made businessman family talking about 'white privilege'? Enough already.
There are all kinds of avenues you can take today if you are truly discriminated against. You are protected there is no institutional racism..
We will never be rid of idiots of the lone wolf types who foolishly provoke and are racists but we have passed laws so that we are all protected.
Enough of acting like this is the 1950s. Enough of protecting blacks if they actually didn't follow police instructions or were swinging around a toy gun that looks like a gun. Seriously, who does this?
I have exactly 7 good friends today of African American persuasion. They have taught me plenty. But you know what, not of them mouth off to police, when they have been stopped, they don't reach for something, they don't flaunt a gun..and guess what they are still alive never been harassed or shot. They are stopped by police over their lives way more than I do but they behave well just like all of us should when we are stopped. It's not the time to behave poorly unless you want to be arrested or have death wish
IMO everyone on here has a bio with anecdotal stories of injustice. Just as we have stories that include heroism. And when we're honest we all have stories where we could've asked more of ourselves. I enjoyed reading yours and say thanx for sharing it.
But imo we all need to step outside our own personal experiences and view the macro-picture.
Yes, America was born with a birth defect called slavery.
Yes, bad things have happened in America like slavery, Indian wars, Spanish war, Oriental (oh please, Asian is too broad a term) internment, women didn't get the vote till the 20th century.
But we're viewing that thru the lens of the 21st century. Slavery still exists in 2015. Our own constitution provides for it. It says people convicted of a crime can be made slaves. Look it up. You don't like the way America treats women? If you've traveled (as we've discussed
you'll know that women are treated better in America than in China, Japan, The Middle East, Afghanistan, Brazil, Africa, etc. You don't like how we treat Latinos, then ask yourself why so many are willing to risk death to sneak into such a hateful country? You don't like the way we treat Orientals? (I'm not bowing to the PC Crowd on this word) I don't see them shutting down traffic in every city to complain. I just see them outscoring every other demographic on tests. You don't like the way we treat Jews? You might want to call the West Wing and ask them why they view Israel as the enemy. You don't like the way we treat illegal aliens? What part of 'illegal' don't you understand? You don't like the way we treat Indians? (okay Native Americans but the ones I know prefer the word Indian) Okay, are you going to give up your home and career and move back to wherever you came from so they can have their land back? Didn't think so.
Sorry, history is one long chain of events where one tribe tries to conquer another tribe (for their resources a.k.a LAND). Get mad at Darwin if you don't like this world but evolution is ruthless and doesn't give a darn about hurt feelings. The honkeys in the northern hemisphere, for whatever reason, came up with better military technology and used it ruthlessly. If it had been the blacks; browns; reds or yellows who came up with better technology they would've done the same thing. And maybe none of them would've suffered from pangs of guilt like good old whitey. In which case the Bataan death march might've become a seasonal sporting event.
Life is radically unfair. It's only in the last 100 years that humanity has even entertained the notion that tyrants shouldn't be calling the shots. And even with that epiphany we still have 14th century kingdoms complete with rulers who find it fun to cut off heads in the public square.
This dissertation ends with the following summation. We're still monkeys, every one of us. We do live on the Planet of the Apes. Real wisdom still eludes us. Maybe we'll never get there. Maybe we're not supposed to get there. If life is hard and hellish for Salmon, Whales, Elephants, Possum, Fox's, Lions, Buffalo, Rhinoceros', Panthers, Eagles, Trees, Frogs and every other life form. Why is it supposed to be a picnic for us? The Cosmos has a message for all of us:
"Buck up ya whiners, I was generous enough to give you life, I never said anything about Paradise."