• Do we still live in a racial society?
    4 replies, posted
If been watching this Ferguson thing and I keep wanting to have a rational debate on race like all the pundits on TV want, so lets have it. Are there still racial problems in today's society such as "White Privilege" or "Reverse Racism" and if so how can we get rid of them? [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Did not read the sticky" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
I'd have to say yes. Unfortunately, people, by nature, seem to be very confrontational and belligerent when they have negative events due to or otherwise impacted by someone different than them. Race is a very obvious difference between people and it's often one of the easiest "targets" for vitriol - just like with gender. It's not quite as bad as it used to be, but there are definite differences in how society treats people of different colors. Now, regarding the Ferguson incidents, et al? I'm always hesitant to call these events the result of racism. It seems to be the first conclusion people jump to whenever a black person is killed by a white person. As recent studies and news have shown, Ferguson was likely not the result of a racist attack, and for that matter, police officers err less when in an altercation with a black individual. So, to put it shortly, yes, I think society today is still quite divided when it comes to race, but the extent of which is vastly overblown. And I think, honestly, if people quit crying "RACISM!!!" whenever something bad happens to a black person, we can finally start to fix the problem. Making a fuss does nothing to mend the divide.
I'd say theres alot of racism alive still even in gaming, I know that DOTA 2 has made me borderline nazi for brazilians and russians...:suicide: but the guy above me is right, there are babies who cry racism at anything and everything. Ill be honest if I want to piss people off I'll start with the racism card, and sometime's you'll have people who really QQ over it. I'm not actually racist but that does not mean people won't go to means to get under skins.
I think a better question would be "Where is racism and how bad is it?" We're primates, and primates tend to be racist and territorial by nature. The idea of racism existing or being a bad thing is fairly new and I believe that racism will always be something that we struggle with and we should always think of ways to minimize as best we can. My impression, at least as a White guy from the United States, is that while things such as "reverse racism" do exist and can be harmful, they are nowhere near as harmful as the more traditional racism that still exists in the United States in different forms. However, as a White person, I don't think I really know everything that happens to minority groups. I think it's my responsibility as a citizen to try my best to acknowledge the problem and understand it fully and how someone of my race/racial appearance should interact with society in a way to helps minimize racism to whatever extent is possible. In real life I can look Arab at times (albeit a handsome Arab :smug:), and I have been met with racism before and it's extremely frustrating and can be somewhat humiliating. Now, I probably don't have thick skin with that, but I do realize that I am a White person in other peoples' eyes in most scenarios, while there are people who really are a certain race and always have that appearance.
I don't think laws specifically say anything about race anymore. And I know that laws aren't specifically design to discriminate. So I think it's just because of the wounds of Racism coming back to bite us, and not any prevalent racism still in our culture. For example. Let's say I am a man who has inherited what my family has owned before. If I was in the 60's and "white", I'd get a decent amount of things. But if I was "black", my family has been discriminated against for so long that they haven't been able to get enough for me to inherit and keep. Coupled with lack of education due to either discrimination, gang culture, trying to support my family by working a minimum wage job, or general apathy towards education due to the impoverished circumstances, the odds would be stacked against me to succeed. And if I don't succeed, my kid will be in the same situation as I am. Now imagine that cycle continuing for years. Yes, people have broken that cycle, but very few. Because it's only been 55 years since the 60s, [I]two generations is [B]not[/B] enough to get everyone who was discriminated out of any impoverished state.[/I] Now, add on the fact that as a black person, you'd feel that you were being discriminated against. You would be correct, if it were 1960s to tail end of 1970s. Now, there's no discrimination in the country. The "Bible-belt" states, which, for [I]some reason[/I], still have that air of implicit racism, but nothing that affects government.(not implying that religion has anything to do with it, I'm saying that to refer to the region). But that does not stop the popular belief that racism still exists all over the US, when, in-fact, is probably the lowest it's ever been. But now I'm not sure with these riots going on and giving people bad names. Because that poverty and lack of education cycle exists, as well as that belief of false-discrimination, tensions can brew. I doubt you'd see a gang banger that says "White people are all right". In Missouri, I think that racial tensions are higher, as the amount of racism there is higher. I feel that the reason Ferguson riots are occurring is due to that cycle and beliefs being the gas that leaked after Discrimination laws and civil rights crashed into each other, and the shooting being the dropped match of the investigating cop trying to light a cigarette. Source: My Sociology class and professor.
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