The Double Standard of Racial Relations in America

*Disclaimer*
This is going to be a rant im sure that some will love and some will love to hate, as it is about a sensitive subject. I will be upfront and give a warning that i will make no attempt at political correctness.

In America, we have a growing problem that I feel threatens to tear our country apart. Racial tensions are at an all time high in America as of late and for good reason. There is a double standard when it comes to race and political correctness.

Ive read many posts on this board speaking of how racist white people conspire to form a system that keeps the black man in a perpetual state of poverty, violence and incarceration. No one seems to notice the implied racism that most of these comments imply by grouping all whites into the greedy scumbags and the blacks into disadvantaged victims.

BET and Ebony. A telivision station and a magazine dedicated to a single ethnic group. I would be willing to bet that if I went out and developed a television chanel dedicated to white entertainment I would have a station with a misleading and awkward acronym and Press confrences by Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson demanding that it be shut down.

Black on black violence is reported in the MSM as a simple shooting. White on black violence becomes front page news and automatically labled as a hate crime. Black on white crime is akin to a unicorn in rarity, almost a mythical occurance. And god forbid there is an altercation between a white police officer and a black suspect. If that happens, the cop is automatically assumed to be a racist who became a cop with the sole intent of making life miserable for black folk. Dont get me wrong, there are many many true incidents of police brutality and excessive force (ie.Eric Garner) but there are also many where its not so clear what happened (ie.Mike Brown) but the assumption is already made and the case tried in the court of public opinion.

The issue of deplorable conditions in inner city neighborhoods could probably be helped if the music industry stopped pushing songs that promote gangbanging and violence and excessive drug and alchohol use that could help maybe. Then once that happens maybe not as many kids will drop out of school to join gangs and get high all day. Then if they go to school they can get a diploma and maybe even get a job one day. Just to be clear, be it white or black or asian or hispanic, living in what amounts to a ghetto is a sure sign that your probably bot going to go far in life.

Im sure that ive offended at least one person, for which I apologize but I tried to be as respectful as possible while still getting my point across. I ask that if anyone responds to this they please not use any derogatory or racist terms/words. Thanks for your time guys.

As difficult a subject as this is, I am personally glad that you tabled it.

Lately we hear terminology like "post racial America" and I cringe. I deeply cringe. I look around and see the essense of what this nation was supposed to be - what gives it an edge - diversity. This is a melting pot and we should embrace that. All, each of us different, yet equal in the eyes of the law.

But somehow it all gets lost in the wash.

I happen to be a light skinned male. I am ethnically diverse but end up checking "white" or "Caucasian" off on forms becuase it is the closest to the truth of the three or four choices I am offered. But there is so much more to me than "white". In fact "white" has nothing at all to do with who I am. It is a label to describe my appearance and asking what fashions I opt to wear would tell you more about me than asking my skin color.

A truly naive person might come along and say that they do not see skin color. I am not that person. I do see it. It just happens that I do not use it as a basis for judging anything about a person. Skin is, well... only skin deep. The person beneath that skin is what I base opinions upon.

As for Ebony, Bet, the United Negro College Fund, and a host of other racially exclusionary or overly specific entities? I think the need for them has long passed. At this point in time they do not serve to bring us together - but to seek to continue to focus us upon our differences. This is to be expected, I suppose. I can think of quite a few organizations that are losing their formerly captive audience to more mainstream things. That means those struggling to keep their almighty dollars flowing will have to "up the game" so to speak - by seeking to augment and exaggerate the divide.

I am no idealist and I do understand that inner city kids have a much harder time growing to be successful than their suburban counterparts. I understand that there are still inequalities in need of addressing. I offer that continuing practices that divide us do nothing to solve these problems.

We are all in the same boat these days. We will remain there until we become evolved enough to realize and act upon that fact.

i'll be frank here.
for the most part, you are spot on. People in general love to label someone as racist at the first go. and it has little to do with pointing out a flawed reasoning, or to criticize a person for their behavior. it's just mob mentality. Racism is something that we pretty much all agree is wrong. so whenever you have the chance to say that something/someone is racist, you are subconsciously saying "look at me! i am a better person! i think like you guys and not like him, i belong to the cool group!"
this is obviously not ALWAYS the case, legit racism exists, and if we can see it, and make it evident, perhaps one day we can get rid of it. Unfortunately that will never happen as long as every little thing is by default considered racist. all that does is help real racism thrive. again, it has more to do with people wanting to be part of a group and less to do with defeating actual racism.

As for your other points, well i am one that believes music can influence people. in many ways. and kids that are underprivileged, living in ghettos see these rappers that went from ghettos to awesome cars and lots of money and lots of hot chicks, and they want that too of course, they want a better future, and in a child's mind, the only way he can obtain that is with the "attitude" that comes with most rap/ hip hop lyrics.
And this ties into a problem in the black community, not all of it of course, but it has more to do with the poor population, the disadvantaged ones: broken homes.
16 years old girls already pregnant. fathers that are absent for some reason or another. Unfit mothers trying to raise unfit pregnant teenagers that think the only things that matter is to act like a queen, with fake hair, a foul mouth and a lack of interest in education. how does that make you a "queen" is anybody's guess.
in that context, people listen to that music and think it's gospel.
and in those communities, black people nee to recognize the problem and lift themselves up off the ground.
Because in these politically overcorrect times, if a white person points these things out, they are considered racist.

but as for black people having magazines or tv stations dedicated to them, i don't mind that really. it's freedom of speech, we have things like white power web sites and the kkk, so why shouldn't they have things that revolve around their community? sounds only fair.

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

As far as the t.v. station and magazine point, yes freedom of speech does apply for blacks and whites, but even your examples of what we have are by default racist. Anything that is tied to white pride or empowerment is automaticly KKK or Nazi-esq. Not considered to be in the vein of im proud of who I am, but viewed as this is the best way to be everyone else is subhuman.

Well if we are going to have a straight talk about racism, then I think it's only fair to include CMT as aiming for a white demographic. However, I do agree that their acronym could never be associated with race.

And as far as the entertainment industry introducing drug culture, that started in the early 20th century with jazz musicians, and became more apparent in the 1960's. It's really difficult to determine how much responsibility they deserve compared to something else, like poor parenting or coming from an impoverished background.

The truth is the United States may be one of the least racist nations in the world, because we had a civil rights movement whereas other nations did not. That is truly sad. We focus on racial differences here, while other countries focus more on ethnic differences.

I do agree with a lot of your other points. White people probably do get a disproportionate amount of criticism for being racist, while other races get a reprieve.

Personally, I believe that the problem of racism has less to do with race, and more about cultural superiority or arrogance. That problem may never go away since every nation/culture teaches cultural or national pride. For the record I am an Asian Indian living in Mississippi, and there is rarely a week that goes by where I don't hear something racist *either about me or another race).

About BET i think you are mistaken, there are channels for Latinos, Asians, Arabs, woman, men, religious groups, shoppers, sports and so on for every commercial demographic. the rest have whites as targeted audience as they are majority, to say there are no white oriented channels is a lie, as the same to say BET is racist, it is just targeted to a minority of the population, much or less as any expensive restaurant is just meant for rich people.

is Jewish Life Television racist?

Univision? EWTN?

BET existence is not racist, if BET had a programing showing how superior the black populations is concerning the rest, that would be racist.

Most network shows are centered about white individuals and customs, therefore targeted towards whites, but as you are one of them you don't realize this, its just regular life for you.

a reply to: gpawnday

The point you make about pride in ones nation or heritage is both good, and poor.

Let me elucidate on that a little, for the sake of clarity.

I am British. I am proud to be British. However, that does not mean that I am ignorant of the great wrongs done by my nation in times long past, nor does it mean that I am proud of those things, for I am neither. I am proud to be British because my grandfathers fought and killed to protect my freedom, and that of the entire world, from Nazi dominion. I am proud because back during the Roman occupation, my ancestors fought with everything they had against the Roman invaders and the horrors they were inflicting on our people.

The things about this nation that I am most proud of, were the moments when we rose up and fought with all our might against tyranny, against slavery, against oppression, against so called civilisation. I am proud that my grandfather on my mothers side campaigned for the welfare state, the creation and maintenance of the National Health Service, which for the first time in this country, allowed people of any social status to access medical care of a decent standard, provided for those who found themselves out of work, often in those times, through no fault of their own. I am proud to be a part of those things.

However, I know that my nation took the imperialism of Rome, fed it steroids and then took our flag and planted it through the faces of countless innocents over centuries of conquest, from the Crusades, to the colonisation of the Americas, and a whole host of other examples, including the involvement in Africa and India, not to mention the SHOCKING treatment that native Australians suffered at the hands of the first Britons off the ships there.

These things stain my soul, and I am constantly aware of them in my dealings with everything, from the way I read the media, to the way I deal with human beings from every walk of life. However, these things are no reason not to feel some pride at the good things that have come out of my country, and similarly, people in the USA, no matter what colour their skin, no matter what nation may have played host to their ancestors, ought to be proud of their country too, for the good things that have happened there.

The civil rights movement is one of them, the creation of the constitution is another. There are others, which those better placed to know these things will no doubt attest to. In closing, pride of ones nation and culture are not a problem, when one is also aware of the failings of ones nation and culture, and displays a determination to avoid such pitfalls themselves. A lack of ignorance makes arrogance impossible.

originally posted by: tranquilone666

Ive read many posts on this board speaking of how racist white people conspire to form a system that keeps the black man in a perpetual state of poverty, violence and incarceration.

Um,
Yep.
It's called the democratic party.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I appreciate your thoughtful response; it definitely gave me some food for thought. I have never met someone from the UK who opened up about their background, and I found it very informative.

One thing that really feeds my personal belief is having lived in the Deep South my entire life. Many people that I have met whose families have lived here for generations, have adopted their grandparents beliefs of Southern Pride (which does often includes racist beliefs - but not always), and the South shall rise again. Many of them cover their shame by justifying the Civil War as an issue of states rights instead of accepting that it was about the economy being driven by slavery. It's complete denial or a facade. However, many of my friends do embrace the good with the bad, as you do, and are much more progressive in their beliefs.

So you might be able to understand my suspicions of national pride. If every person was enlightened as you were, I doubt we would even be having this discussion.

a reply to: gpawnday

As a fellow resident of the deep south I can tell you that my aunts and uncles were very much "old school". But they were all born in the early part of the last century. My mother, the last sibling from a large family still alive, is 73 years old and was much younger than her other siblings.

Their generation tended to hold onto the beliefs you allude to. My cousins and I? Most of us do not. The generation behind us, our own children. They are totally removed from it. To them culture is celebrated. Their musical tastes are eclectic and come from all walks of life and they do not seem to notice nor care about racial differences, choosing to embrace the similarities instead.

There is hope.

a reply to: tranquilone666

In America, we have a growing problem that I feel threatens to tear our country apart. Racial tensions are at an all time high in America as of late and for good reason. There is a double standard when it comes to race and political correctness.

Seems like with a few exceptions, the biggest change in "racial tensions" in this country involves white conservatives who consciously aware of it or not, have been going through 6 years of consternation over the election of a black president.

You want to diffuse the "racial tension" you feel? Let it go. Who the hell cares about BET or Ebony? I'll tell you what my dad told me when I was in maybe third grade and I came home from school one day and told him that one of the kids on the playground was going on about "What if white people had WET?!!?!" (this would have been the mid-80's in Georgia).

Me: Dad, isn't it wrong that black people have BET? If we had WET, wouldn't they be mad?
Dad: Son, we do have White Entertainment Television — it's called EVERYTHING ELSE ON TELEVISION.

Take solace in knowing that kids these days have far less hang-ups about race, gender equality, sexual preference, etc.

a reply to: gpawnday

I totally understand the suspicion you feel toward the sort of nationalistic pride that you refer to, because it is pride without balanced, nuanced understanding of what, exactly, one is supposed to be proud of which creates the circumstances necessary for xenophobia to grow. You referred to the fact that some folks who have grown up instilled with the Southern Pride, try to brush off the Civil War as something other than what it really was, and that is the danger of nationalism, as opposed to informed pride.

The main difference, the crucial factor is historical awareness. If one does not know ones history, if one does not have a familiarity with the course of events which lead ones ancestors to the actions they were involved in, then one cannot be proud justly. Uninformed national pride is very often a hotbed for the development of xenophobia and racist ideology, purely because the only way to become xenophobic, is to have a total lack of understanding of not only the cultures and traditions of other lands, but a complete lack of real understanding of ones own national heritage, ESPECIALLY in a country like America, which is a hybrid nation if ever there was one!

Look at how easy it is for people to demonise entire religious groups nowadays for example. People, professing to belief in Christ lambasting Muslims as a whole, for the actions of a small minority, despite the fact that Christian organisations and rulers have committed acts of barbarism in times gone by. The ease with which people take to hatred, would not be a factor if more people understood the imperfections of their own national and cultural roots, and took them into account when dealing with the wider world.

It is pretty simple from where I sit. No nation on the face of Earth has a history free of darkness, and the key to moving forward as nations working together for a peaceful, and decent future for all mankind, is to recognise that, while retaining pride in the moments when ones nation or culture or both, DID act in the common interest of the human race, when it DID do something genuinely good for its citizens, when it DID impress the world with something positive.

a reply to: [post=18563712]tranquilone666[/]

I am sure many here will roll their eyes thinking out loud..sheesh not this mfkr again.. but I swear I kliked on NEW and this subject just popped up I thought about letting it go and not to be the "BAD GUY" always putting my 5cents in some race thread but if I don't say anything it's gonna gnaw away at my gut.

Ive read many posts on this board speaking of how racist white people conspire to form a system that keeps the black man in a perpetual state of poverty, violence and incarceration. No one seems to notice the implied racism that most of these comments imply by grouping all whites into the greedy scumbags and the blacks into disadvantaged victims.

The problem is it is a fact that such a system has been in place and have never truly been dismantled but transformed,off course most individual whites are not responsible for it but it was done in their name,lets talk about Racial classification for a min,
Racial classification although started by Europeans to separate mankind according to facial features, skeletal length,hair types and skull formations was used in the United States in a deliberate calculating manner,it was used to keep part of the population as permanent slaves while disinheriting others especially Native Americans or first Americans off their lands,
Negro in the American context was used for American with a single drop of African ancestry to be classified as Negro.

THE DEVIL AND THE ONE DROP RULE:
RACIAL CATEGORIES, AFRICAN THE DEVIL AND THE ONE DROP RULE:
RACIAL CATEGORIES, AFRICAN
AMERICANS, AND THE U.S. CENSUS
pantherfile.uwm.edu...

This is why Blacks or African Americans came to be 10% of the us population and why Native Americans who interbred with them came to dwindle and lost their land by law as they were no longer considered "Indians" by the census.

This is a long vid explaining the above I don't expect anyone to watch it in one go but if one is truly interested in how things came to be you would do so.

I have stated in other threads that White 1% of the earlier slave era started separating people into different categories by the invention of the WHITE RACE ! to put an end to oppressed White slaves,Blacks and Indians from running away and starting rebellions,they did this by making Blacks permanent slaves and whites an indentured servant,they made the former oppressed whites into militia men and slave catchers,the tragedy is many of the former allies fell for it hook line and sinker and to this day many of their descendants no matter how broke and dusty would never make common cause with the broke and equally dusty Black counter part, they would rather chafe under poverty as long as someone told them they are superior to a black Harvard grad because their skin is white.

These 1% also introduced Africans as slaves in Native American population knowing well that the two will intermix because their world view would see no big deal in such mixtures,Black were to some extent turned into Indian fighters especially on the American frontier.. see Buffalo Soldiers.

But Hay that was so long ago thanks for the history lesson Spider,so what has this got to do with the here and now ..I'll tell ya,I won't even go into the re-enslavement and disenfranchisement of Blacks after reconstruction by chain gangs for such crimes as walking on the side walk or walking along train train tracks that could get you put away on a chain gang clearing forest and busting rocks for rail companies and even least out to farmers for field work all with the consent of local government and ignored by the Fed as simply a way of life states rights etc..lets skip all that.

Before WWII most Americans were dead broke,then the war happened folks got to work in the arms industries those who were not civilians went off to war Black folks included at wars end G.Is returned the G.I bill was passed,housing with low cost homes were made available which was able to create a majority middle class for the first time great with one exception Blacks were not allowed they were simply red lined and get this,this goes for so called "MIXED" neighborhoods, they had a hard time joining unions etc,city planners routinely found ingenious ways to screw Black neighborhoods keeping them economically depressed and ghettoized.
The below is but one example.

Overshadowed by I-10[edit]
One of the most controversial developments in New Orleans' history involved the construction of Interstate 10 through the Treme neighborhood as an elevated freeway above the oldest section of Claiborne Avenue in the late 1960s. The construction generally followed vacant land, such as the filled-in New Basin Canal. The original design called for the Interstate to be built along the river through the French Quarter. A successful campaign was organized by French Quarter residents and preservations to redirect that stretch of Interstate. The width of Claiborne Avenue provided the second most convenient route for construction, while still bringing the interstate very close to the Central Business District and the French Quarter, a few blocks from Claiborne. The opposition of the largely African-American and disenfranchised residents of Treme was not enough to stop the project from going forward. After construction, cement parking lots replaced the grassy neutral ground and supports for the interstate replaced the old oak trees, permanently changing the streetscape. It is commonly held that the construction of the overpass was intimately tied to the overall decline of the Treme neighborhood in the 60's and 70's.[1

There is no double standard, only the standard.
Only whites can be racists.
Only males can be sexists.
see.....standards..

a reply to: TrueBrit

The problem thus becomes ignoring the past, instead of acknowledging that it happened and growing from it. To further illustrate my point, I grew up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where a famous Civil War battle, the siege of Vicksburg took place. The siege ended on July 4th, 1863, and for over 100 years people in Vicksburg did not celebrate Independence Day.

Mississippi is the only state in the Union to still have the Confederate flag on their state flag. We still have jerry-mandering in the districts to maintain Republican party control, even though the state is 51% black and has a large Southern Democrat constituency. My friends in another town in Mississippi had separate proms for black and white kids that still goes on today. Ole Miss had student riots when Obama was reelected.

The problem is growing from this, but we are stuck in the past here. It's getting better but at a snail's pace compared to the rest of the country. There are so many people here who want to remain ignorant. Even minorities here have become complacent with it, when it should instead be receiving national media attention.

And this doesn't even cover the Indian reservations we have here.

a reply to: gpawnday


Your absolutely right about people learning from the past and moving on. Grudges fester and cause problems.
But I also find it ironic that you used the term "indian" in your post.
That just shows how somebody can see one issue and overlook another similar issue.

As for Ebony,Jet and Essence magazine these were started in the 50ts along with other Black publications..why??..simple no "mainstream" publications ran stories about AAs daily lives fashion and gossip until late in the day and I'd say 80ts \

And how many read or cared about Black entrepreneur as a subject ,not many outside the community I bet so that's why mags like the below exist you usually don't find such stories reading the Wall St Journal.

Inspiring^ ..Jamaican

Informative

Controversial .
And I know from experience that someone will say why do Blacks have their own colleges..because they were needed at the time when Blacks could not get into predominantly White colleges in any case they are now called HBCU that is Historically Black Colleges And Universities. as they are no longer for Black students or faculty only.
Just like the Buffalo soldiers are now an integrated regiment in the U.S army.

a reply to: tranquilone666

I think things are beginning to move in a less divisive direction. Rap is rebranding itself as urban, effectively empowering "black" culture to be adoptable by other racial groups. Our governors are going to have to do something major within the next 50 years, or else they are going to have systemic problems on their hands.

Regardless of what you want to think about immigration, latin-americans who are often Catholic are becoming a rapidly growing segment of the population and will most likely some day dominate this country as the new racial majority. While many of them are presently voting democrat out of purely political issues, they are themselves very socially conservative, so as the balance shifts from them being a minority to their being a majority, I doubt they'll remain with the democrats for very long.

This could very well lead to a socially-conservative dominated nation, and our governor's current strategy of keeping us divided along roughly 50/50 lines will become a much harder hill to climb. They will either need more young and african-american people to actively vote democrat, which requires them to be much less cynical about our society or they will need to split the republican party up and run a three party nation for awhile. In any case, it will be hairy. If a large segment of the population begins to feel as if they have no way to effect change through peaceful mechanisms, social unrest will become an inevitability. The last thing our government wants is a large scale crisis of legitimacy, although I guess congress is already wrestling with that and is somehow skating the line without failure thus far.

a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

My Choctaw friends identified themselves as Indians. They used the term Native American and Indian interchangeably. I think that's what you were referring to, but I am not certain.

Racism is materialism. There is only one race of humans on this earth, that I know of.

We all share 99% identical DNA. So to differentiate based on material looks, is "racisit"...or better yet, materialist.

Stupidity all around. And to acknowledge the stupidity is to part take, essentially.

Best to just educate each other and treat others as you would like to be treated...no matter what they look like, what they wear or what music they listen to.

Culture is just an illusion.