A real good discussion about racism in a Cleveland Plain Dealer Column

[WCGreen]

today...

I was surprised since Regina Britt is usually the queen of conventional wisdom, but with this column, inspired by someone who called and left a message, the whole idea of "Black Racism" as being impossible crystallized for me...

See if you agree....



He insists that black people are not racist. They're prejudiced.

What's the difference?

"Racism means you can put your foot on a person's neck and keep him from elevating himself. Blacks have no power to be racists. We control nothing in this country. We can't take nothing away from you," he said.

Our prejudice is a reaction to your racist actions. It is not an action, it's a reaction. Like Billy Joel sang, We didn't start the fire.' We just reacting to the fire."

And what is prejudice?

"I don't like you because who you are," he said. "I'm judgin' a whole group of you all for the actions of a few."


http://www.cleveland.com/brett/index.ssf?/base/opinion-0/1206520371126350.xml&coll=2&thispage=1

I really think that spells it out very clearly so that means, of course, that racists like Bill O'Rielly and his ilk will never get it...

The people who listen to that kind of narrow minded bigotry and treat it as sound political and social commentary are never going to understand what power and the ignorance of power is truly all about...

On a different note...

I am 50, and a white guy who was raised and still lives in the suburbs of Cleveland...

I heard my dad and grandma and aunts and uncles all call blacks niggers and spooks and every other derogatory name you can come up with...

Of course the Jews run hollywood, but that's a whole different set of crap I had to deal with...

And yet, I was able to overcome it...

The other day at lunch with an old friend he said to me "I can't believe we are going to have a spook for a president"...

I looked at him and just said this...

"It's pretty obvious you really have no idea about how I feel and what I am all about. Let's just change the subject before you say anything more about Obama or Hillary..."

He got all red in the face but changed the subject...

I'm not going to change him, he's bitter and threatened even though he lives in a gated community and drives a beemer...

I'll say this for him, he has worked hard for everything he has...

But that doesn't mean I have to hang out with him anymore...

It's funny, I looked around at my friends the other day and realized that most of the people I know and now hang with are like minded and that I only see some of my old friends on rare occassions...

Now I understand why...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. They hide behind their prejudices because they are scared...

The gentleman in the article said...

Doing that makes things easier...

You can categorize folks and that keeps them in their place...

So you can go on being scared of them, not relating to them as fellow humans...

It takes courage to not do that.

To see each person as an individual.

You have done that!

Your friend lives in a gated community because he is threatened...

K&R

[CitizenLeft]

2. thank you for posting that, I missed it.

And thank you for saying that to your friend. Perhaps he'll think about it the next time before he says it to someone else.