Am I Racist?

[justin syder]

Comon mystery man, brownish? I am brownish too, be specific.

Im Puerto Rican 50%, Dominican 25%, and Jamaican 25%.

Based on those stats you are going to conclude that a big issue is class in America? Im not convinced.

[Firecat]

Class is an issue around the world. The only thing i'm trying to point out is that race and gender etc. are almost always trumped by wealth. So when people use phrases like "Rich white men"....I say "Rich whatever"...race and gender doesn't factor in.

I guess you could consider me Arabic...

[justin syder]

I guess you could consider me Arabic...

Now I have to force the words out of your mouth. What country were your parents born in?

[Firecat]

Won't help you much, but South Africa....

[justin syder]

Are we playing charades or some guessing game??

So you are an Arabic male with South African ties. Do I get to guess some more or do you wish to give me more small hints.

[Firecat]

Not just "ties" with South Africa, I lived there for 7 years, but I was born and raised in Canada......that probably helps zero

I can't really just nail it down to one thing, and I can't really break it down into percentages.

[justin syder]

I can't really just nail it down to one thing, and I can't really break it down into percentages.

I think you like being mystery man with the Che avatar. Well its simple for me, maybe not in ur case but for me it is. My Mom is Puerto Rican. My dad is half Jamaican and half Dominican. So I am the break down that i posted earlier but overall I tell ppl Im Puerto Rican as I identify with it most.

I take it you dont know or dont want to tell me. I feel like im getting the runaround.

[Firecat]

lol...you got me, I do like to be the "mystery man"...

[Ultra_Kool_Dude]

Originally Posted by ///M

That comic does a good job of illustrating your point and I understand that point of view.

The problem for me is that racism will always exist as long as we treat different races differently.

Having policies that a certain number of minorities must be included in something is an insult to those minorities. It is saying they need a handout.

Plus, the comic doesn't make as much sense if you consider that slavery was many generations ago.

The Romans subjugated my ancestors a long time ago, so should I get special treatment?

[justin syder]

Well said UKD!!

If we focus too much on the past and the negative about it we can never move forward.

Every race can compain about something done in the past, how does that help you now? What good would it do?

[Ihatehippies]

Jesse Jackson once made a comment that "not all blacks are poor and not all poor people are black"
The truth is that the main beneficiary of affirmitive action is middle class blacks and women that are already ahead of the game. Lower class urban blacks from bad schools don't see the benefits.

[Firecat]

That sounds kinda logical. However, affirmative action deals more with discrimination regarding race not class.

[zenkidori]

quotas are total bullshit and they do nothing but harm society.

[zenkidori]

Plus, the comic doesn't make as much sense if you consider that slavery was many generations ago

EXACTLY. not all white americans are decendants of slave owners. my family didn't even come over here untill after the first world war! why should my family be punished for something we had no hand in?

[Firecat]

As if everything was hunky-dory after the early 1918. The civil rights movement only kicked into high gear around the mid-1960s. And let's not delude ourselves into thinking that racism doesn't exist anymore.

[zenkidori]

Racism does indeed exist but AA and quotas don't help anything.

[Firecat]

I agree that there are flaws. But the playing field is not yet level, so something needs to be done.

[zenkidori]

I'm not sure I agree with you, but something that disqualifies someone for a position because they lack the required skin color, genetalia, or persecuted ancestors doesn't seem right.

I also believe there shouldn't be hate crime laws. If you murder a person for no reason, you're evil and deserve to rot in jail forever or be executed, why is it suddenly a million times worse when that person is of a different color? Do they matter more because of this qualification? A person is a person and murder is murder.

Equality my ass.

[Firecat]

Murder is murder, I can agree with that. A hate law should have no bearing on that. I do think hate laws can be effective when it comes to more petty crimes like vandalism. For example, I do think it's worse to say damage a car because the person that drives it is gay or black versus damaging a car because you had nothing better to do with your time.

[zenkidori]

I however don't. What happens should have no bearing on who the victim was or who the perpetrator was, it's the same crime all around, regardless the reasons. What if someone runs around damaging stripper's cars because they think it's immoral? should they be prosecuted under hate crimes as well? Strippers are a minority in the workforce, and on the fringe of society, shouldn't they be "protected"? Hate crime laws afford no extra protection to anyone, just disproportionate punishment that helps feed the very racism it pretends to correct.

When my brother was in high school there was a young black kid who was a total ass, alwasy picking on people and trying to start fights. Someone finally got fed up and pushed him down when he was being picked on. He didn't clock him or beat him up or anything like that, and it had NOTHING at all to do with his race, just the fact that he was being a total ass. The student who was defending himself got expelled and the black kid got a police escort to every class for the next month. Now if I was a young impressionable youth witnessing this kind of disparity in justice in the great microcosm of society that is public education, I can see how it would embitter me towards the persons getting special favors.

If people want equality they should get equality, not special treatment.