I, Racist

[Baer.]

We know that neanderthals mated with modern homosapiens. While most studies conclude that neanderthals did not contribute substantially to the modern human genome when one observed Nathan Horton charging down the ice it was obvious that neanderthals had indeed left their mark on our species.

:lol:

[thejazz97]

The first step of moving forward is for black (and other non-white) people to stop thinking about racism as a group, but start thinking about it as individuals, like how the OP writer is wired. Start thinking and acting as though they are white. Stop the negativity. Start feeling like you are entitled to be 'normal'.

Why would anyone want to be normal?

[Buddhas Hand]

ethnicity is a scientific thing, race is a social construct.

race =/= ethnicity

Cline ?

[riffraff]

[Hugor Hill]

Why would anyone want to be normal?

If you have actually read the article you wouldn't be asking.

[LaBamba]

I worked all over the USA and I find this article very accurate. I really had no idea what racism was until I was in the middle of it.

I had 2 black guys working with me, We were in North west Pennsylvania which was resoundingly white. After work one day I asked everyone to join me for some wings at the neighbourhood pub, everyone declined because some stupid NASCAR crap was on and they were cooking a bunch a crap for it. Then I looked at the 2 black guys and I said what about you guys, I know you don't watch this redneck crap. Everyone started laughing like I was crazy and joking. I really wasn't and didn't understand why it was this big deal. I was theit boss so I insisted I said "boys, your coming with me." From that point forward it was like I was transported into a different world. Going to and Irish pub in a 98% white population with 2 black guys was the most mind altering experience of my life. I was a regular, everyone knew me, and suddenly I was this alien creature they never seen before. Why is this white guy hanging out with these 2 black guys? Was what I felt when everyone's eyes were piercing through my soul. The energy in the building was unwelcoming, something I have never felt before.

I didn't care though, no turning back now, so I got drunk and ate a buncha chicken wings with these 2 dudes, we sat in the corner and had a blast. We made light of all the weird things we do in Canada, and all the weird things they do in Mississippi. The whole time they kept bringing up that they couldn't believe their white boss took them out on the town. I know why now, and it was a saddening experience. I have never walked into a place and felt that deep unexceptence before. From that day forward I saw it all the time.

In Canada we don't have the same history and we really aren't racist at all in comparison. I thought racist jokes were racism, I had no idea.

[Mr.DirtyDangles]

Are we ?

Michael Slezak in an article for the New scientist states

Homo sapiens is believed to have taken on Neanderthal DNA from at least two bouts of interbreeding. While sub-Saharan Africans have no Neanderthal DNA, Asian populations have more than Europeans.

"We know that there are likely to have been at least two admixture events into the ancestors of present-day people – the shared event early during modern human migration out of Africa, and a second event into the ancestors of present-day Asians,"

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26435-thoroughly-..

We know that neanderthals mated with modern homosapiens. While most studies conclude that neanderthals did not contribute substantially to the modern human genome when one observed Nathan Horton charging down the ice it was obvious that neanderthals had indeed left their mark on our species.

So what you are really saying is .... Cave girls are easy

jokes aside interesting read. Especially the bit at the end ; )

[thejazz97]

If you have actually read the article you wouldn't be asking.

I read the article, and it made me think quite a bit about my own values on the race topic.

But on the comment I made, I happen to find it ironic that in the era of individuality, everyone wants to be the same.

I have so many thoughts on being "normal" that I don't even know where to begin in replying...

[Mustapha]

Racism is a red herring as far as I see it.

Whether or not you are taken seriously by others in a personal context has to do with how much $$$ you have in the bank and how many assets you have.

The real divider is class, not race. You can argue that some ethnicities have higher proportions of poor individuals, but a quick injection of 7 or 8 figures of cash and you become instantly powerful, no matter what you look like.

[drummer4now]

Racism is a red herring as far as I see it.

Whether or not you are taken seriously by others in a personal context has to do with how much $$$ you have in the bank and how many assets you have.

The real divider is class, not race. You can argue that some ethnicities have higher proportions of poor individuals, but a quick injection of 7 or 8 figures of cash and you become instantly powerful, no matter what you look like.

This..

People are so hellbent on the concept of race and ethnicity in terms of inequality in society that they forget the real divider as you stated class..

If one were to put their tin foil hats on for a sec you could see how some issues profit/shift spotlight from the elite..

But this isn't a new concept and has been going on since the dawn of man..

[TheFirstLine]

I think what everyone is trying to say is it doesn't matter if you're black, brown, pink, yellow, or normal.. everyone should be treated equally.

Join the kkk already

[Electro Rock]

I worked all over the USA and I find this article very accurate. I really had no idea what racism was until I was in the middle of it.

I had 2 black guys working with me, We were in North west Pennsylvania which was resoundingly white. After work one day I asked everyone to join me for some wings at the neighbourhood pub, everyone declined because some stupid NASCAR crap was on and they were cooking a bunch a crap for it. Then I looked at the 2 black guys and I said what about you guys, I know you don't watch this redneck crap. Everyone started laughing like I was crazy and joking. I really wasn't and didn't understand why it was this big deal. I was theit boss so I insisted I said "boys, your coming with me." From that point forward it was like I was transported into a different world. Going to and Irish pub in a 98% white population with 2 black guys was the most mind altering experience of my life. I was a regular, everyone knew me, and suddenly I was this alien creature they never seen before. Why is this white guy hanging out with these 2 black guys? Was what I felt when everyone's eyes were piercing through my soul. The energy in the building was unwelcoming, something I have never felt before.

I didn't care though, no turning back now, so I got drunk and ate a buncha chicken wings with these 2 dudes, we sat in the corner and had a blast. We made light of all the weird things we do in Canada, and all the weird things they do in Mississippi. The whole time they kept bringing up that they couldn't believe their white boss took them out on the town. I know why now, and it was a saddening experience. I have never walked into a place and felt that deep unexceptence before. From that day forward I saw it all the time.

In Canada we don't have the same history and we really aren't racist at all in comparison. I thought racist jokes were racism, I had no idea.

Oh it happens in Canada too, Americans are usually more blatantly obvious with their racism but if anything I encounter more bad racial vibes in Canada in a given time period than I do in the U.S.

Canadians are a lot more subtle and image conscious with it, and Canadian media isn't as eager to pick up on racial incidents, but its definately there.

If I had a good hidden body cam setup, I wouldn't have to wait long to get some great footage of me being constantly followed around in stores, ID checked by the police and general negative reactions.

[drummer4now]

Oh it happens in Canada too, Americans are usually more blatantly obvious with their racism but if anything I encounter more bad racial vibes in Canada in a given time period than I do in the U.S.

Canadians are a lot more subtle and image conscious with it, and Canadian media isn't as eager to pick up on racial incidents, but its definately there.

If I had a good hidden body cam setup, I wouldn't have to wait long to get some great footage of me being constantly followed around in stores, ID checked by the police and general negative reactions.

are you black?

Some people give me bad vibes when I am with my grandpa who just happens to don a turban and slight beard..

Could be because I am from a small town.

[Electro Rock]

are you black?

Some people give me bad vibes when I am with my grandpa who just happens to don a turban and slight beard..

Could be because I am from a small town.

Black, White and Latino, I think a lot of people around here mistake me for Native though, hence a lot of the problem.

[Mr. Ambien]

Join the kkk already

Sure, right after you buy a sarcasm detector, Mrs. Sensitive.

[Dedalus]

Racism is a red herring as far as I see it.

Whether or not you are taken seriously by others in a personal context has to do with how much $$$ you have in the bank and how many assets you have.

The real divider is class, not race. You can argue that some ethnicities have higher proportions of poor individuals, but a quick injection of 7 or 8 figures of cash and you become instantly powerful, no matter what you look like.

Is that supposed to be better? Because your view is called classism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_discrimination

It's equally as bad. I have to deal with (laissez-faire) capitalism everyday, and it lends itself to a tonne of corruption, nepotism and fraud. But then again, I'll openly admit I was never a fan of neoliberalism.

State intervention and socialised industries/economies are not free of these negatives, but at least a larger entity can be held accountable for their mistakes and is widely disseminated. In my view, people are more motivated to scrutinise government than a million-dollar company. Also, capitalism isn't necessarily bad, but a large capitalist company or conglomerate acts as a lifeless form, and decisions are made through policies and many outside interests, e.g., once a company hits IPO. Too many hands with too many personal/vested interests.

Capitalism as a way to generate money is very good, but it is a skeletal structure, if you will, with no moral compass. Therefore, what is needed is ethics enforced rigidly, something that is easier to impose on government than a conglomerate that escapes certain laws by expanding across countries or finding loopholes that only affect a few people.

So, "how much money you have in the bank" correlates with a corrupt system that only lets you advance based on other corrupt concepts, including race.

[Kragar]

Is that supposed to be better? Because your view is called classism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_discrimination

It's equally as bad. I have to deal with (laissez-faire) capitalism everyday, and it lends itself to a tonne of corruption, nepotism and fraud. But then again, I'll openly admit I was never a fan of neoliberalism.

State intervention and socialised industries/economies are not free of these negatives, but at least a larger entity can be held accountable for their mistakes and is widely disseminated. In my view, people are more motivated to scrutinise government than a million-dollar company. Also, capitalism isn't necessarily bad, but a large capitalist company or conglomerate acts as a lifeless form, and decisions are made through policies and many outside interests, e.g., once a company hits IPO. Too many hands with too many personal/vested interests.

Capitalism as a way to generate money is very good, but it is a skeletal structure, if you will, with no moral compass. Therefore, what is needed is ethics enforced rigidly, something that is easier to impose on government than a conglomerate that escapes certain laws by expanding across countries or finding loopholes that only affect a few people.

So, "how much money you have in the bank" correlates with a corrupt system that only lets you advance based on other corrupt concepts, including race.

I understand what you are saying, but I hope you aren't depending on politicians to have a stronger moral compass that corporations. Corporations answer to their shareholders, politicians listen to their major supporters (the ones giving the most money) and whatever special interests fit their worldview at the time. I won't say corporations are significantly more moral, but the gap between them and federal politicians as a whole is not very large. Debatable which is more moral, regardless.

Trying to hold a government responsible for their corruption isn't all that easy. You can complain about the government here, but government is so huge that I disagree with your comment about motivation to scrutinize governments vs corporations. There are plenty of people who rail against corporations that they have issues with in an attempt to steer public opinion against the corporation. However, with governments and political parties, I feel there is more entrenchment involved, with X amount voting to the right, Y amount voting to the left, and some amount less than X+Y deciding the results of the election. It is extremely difficult to get an X to move to a Y and vice versa, whereas support for corporations and brands can be more volatile.

There is corruption in all forms of government. The more governments go out of their way to protect their "friends" (including corporations) when it comes to lawmaking or upholding existing laws, the more corruption can thrive.

As a generalization, your final point as stated is so full of crap. I'll agree that there are individual cases where this could be true, but there are numerous minorities here in NA that found ways to earn a better lifestyle than I expect to afford in my lifetime. People have skills and intelligence. Whether they use them to their potential has more impact than racism/classicism.

I once asked Kweisi Mfume, then the head of the NAACP the following question: ‘As between the presence of white racism and the absence of black fathers, which poses the bigger threat to the black community.’ He immediately responded, ‘The absence of black fathers.’

- Larry Elder

http://kulturekritic.com/2012/12/news/larry-elder-absentee-fathers-are-more-of-a-threat-to-the-black-community-than-racism/

[awalk]

Why do I care if someone thinks I am racist?

I guess that would depend. Is someone thinking you are being racist towards them? Then ideally you would be empathetic to their feelings.

If you are asking in a context of, why should I care what other people think of me, then that's a much longer discussion with regards to racism.

[Dedalus]

I understand what you are saying, but I hope you aren't depending on politicians to have a stronger moral compass that corporations. Corporations answer to their shareholders, politicians listen to their major supporters (the ones giving the most money) and whatever special interests fit their worldview at the time. I won't say corporations are significantly more moral, but the gap between them and federal politicians as a whole is not very large. Debatable which is more moral, regardless.

Trying to hold a government responsible for their corruption isn't all that easy. You can complain about the government here, but government is so huge that I disagree with your comment about motivation to scrutinize governments vs corporations. There are plenty of people who rail against corporations that they have issues with in an attempt to steer public opinion against the corporation. However, with governments and political parties, I feel there is more entrenchment involved, with X amount voting to the right, Y amount voting to the left, and some amount less than X+Y deciding the results of the election. It is extremely difficult to get an X to move to a Y and vice versa, whereas support for corporations and brands can be more volatile.

There is corruption in all forms of government. The more governments go out of their way to protect their "friends" (including corporations) when it comes to lawmaking or upholding existing laws, the more corruption can thrive.

As a generalization, your final point as stated is so full of crap. I'll agree that there are individual cases where this could be true, but there are numerous minorities here in NA that found ways to earn a better lifestyle than I expect to afford in my lifetime. People have skills and intelligence. Whether they use them to their potential has more impact than racism/classicism.

I once asked Kweisi Mfume, then the head of the NAACP the following question: ‘As between the presence of white racism and the absence of black fathers, which poses the bigger threat to the black community.’ He immediately responded, ‘The absence of black fathers.’

- Larry Elder

http://kulturekritic.com/2012/12/news/larry-elder-absentee-fathers-are-more-of-a-threat-to-the-black-community-than-racism/

I should clarify that when I said I prefer socialised industries, I was comparing more left-leaning countries with countries where capitalism has done more harm than good at an individual/human-level, such as countries in South America like Peru, where, of course, the GDP has increased, but it has created more inequality. If there is a mark of third-worldness, it is precisely this inequality. I cannot consider socialist countries that have sharp inequality to be real socialist countries, only corrupt politicians who become leaders through demagoguery. I understand that this really depends on an individual's core worldview, so I am happy to agree to disagree.

With regard to upward social mobility, are you sure you want to paint all of North America with one broad brush? For the sake of argument, I assume you are not including Mexico. But even if you include Canada, there is a slightly bigger middle class there than there is in the US. Still, the middle class in both countries is shrinking. So, what does that say about social mobility? Are you counting a family of 4 going from $10k a year to $20k a year with medical benefits in the US? That type of social mobility, to me, is insignificant. If you are referring to minorities who are now living very comfortable upper middle-class lives, then they must be in the minority. Yet you want use them as an example, instead of an exception to a 'rule'.

Personally, what I said above was only referring to the US. Canada is much better off, unless you are interested in being filthy rich, then you are better off in the States.

But let's continue with social mobility. Have a look at this New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/upshot/an-atlas-of-upward-mobility-shows-paths-out-of-poverty.html

There is an interactive map you can play with on there.

Excerpt:

The places where poor children face the worst odds include some — but not all — of the nation’s largest urban areas, like Atlanta; Chicago; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Orlando, West Palm Beach and Tampa in Florida; Austin, Tex.; the Bronx; and the parts of Manhattan with low-income neighborhoods.

All else equal, low-income boys who grow up in such areas earn about 35 percent less on average than otherwise similar low-income children who grow up in the best areas for mobility. For girls, the gap is closer to 25 percent.

Many of these places have large African-American populations, and the findings suggest that race plays an enormous but complex role in upward mobility. The nation’s legacy of racial inequality appears to affect all low-income children who live in heavily black areas: Both black and white children seem to have longer odds of reaching the middle class, and both seem to benefit from moving to better neighborhoods.

Sure, studies with two different results certainly should set off red flags, but as someone who now lives in LA, I bring in my own experience and observations, and I see that minorities are given fewer chances and paid less. Unfortunately, this is anecdotal, so I am not trying to convince you of anything.

There is a lot of typecasting that goes on here. Asians are good at numbers so they are good with such-and-such jobs, etc. But this can be bad, as well. For example, some people think: Mexicans are only good at gardening and they don't ask for a lot of money, so that's what they are good for. It is wrong, but it happens and people force you into that position unless you can take an easily measurable test showing your skills, such as computer programming. But even carpentry and manual labour jobs aren't paid that well if you are Hispanic.

[Mustapha]

Is that supposed to be better? Because your view is called classism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_discrimination

It's equally as bad. I have to deal with (laissez-faire) capitalism everyday, and it lends itself to a tonne of corruption, nepotism and fraud. But then again, I'll openly admit I was never a fan of neoliberalism.

State intervention and socialised industries/economies are not free of these negatives, but at least a larger entity can be held accountable for their mistakes and is widely disseminated. In my view, people are more motivated to scrutinise government than a million-dollar company. Also, capitalism isn't necessarily bad, but a large capitalist company or conglomerate acts as a lifeless form, and decisions are made through policies and many outside interests, e.g., once a company hits IPO. Too many hands with too many personal/vested interests.

Capitalism as a way to generate money is very good, but it is a skeletal structure, if you will, with no moral compass. Therefore, what is needed is ethics enforced rigidly, something that is easier to impose on government than a conglomerate that escapes certain laws by expanding across countries or finding loopholes that only affect a few people.

So, "how much money you have in the bank" correlates with a corrupt system that only lets you advance based on other corrupt concepts, including race.

Money talks, and I very much believe that once you have enough, there is no limit to your personal aspirations.

Anyone who follows current events should know about income inequality and government corruption due to several factors (allowing lobbyists to buy elected officials on order to pass laws that favourite corporations is a bug example)

My point is that economic disparity affects the day to day life of citizens of all ethnicities, and should be the primary focus of western governments to rectify. 'Race' struggles and other social issues are made worse as an extension of economic struggles.

Governments in place today are happy with letting the populace fight over race distinctions all day, while the current system continues to bleed the growing number of working poor dry.