Originally Posted by butthead aka 216
honestly if i was introduced to another white guy at a mainly black party id probably be thankful. i do get the point that race assumptions are wrong, but is it that big of a deal? really, cmon the basis for friendship or introducin ppl to others is havin somethin in common. in this case, its race, and yea that might be pointless and superficial. one black guy could be a rap fan and the other could be karl malone lol. but its somethin on the surface two ppl have in common - commonalities bond ppl together. if i was dropped into an all black neighborhood, i would probably try to talk to the other few white kids for comfort. why? because right off the bat we have somethin in common regardless of how stupid or superficial or pointless it may be
im sorry you had the lady reach for her alarm or whatever. i admit that hasnt happened to me and likely never will. i was usin the old woman example because it comes up most often but i dont think old white women or old ppl are in general are very good representations of general white racism since older ppl are usually pretty outward and unapologetic about their racism. i can see what you are sayin about appearance and i understand its not always an appearnace thing. do i think it usually is?? yes. i think that where a lot of blacks and whites get mixed up. not skin color, but the way someone presents themselves.
good on you for recognizing that stupid pressure to 'act black' which is ironically racist itself. i was workin in a group home for awhile. the one black kid comes in actin all tough and gangster and the other kids are all scared of him. i do the intake and talk to the kid, he tells me where hes from and its some little hicktown farming community. thats an example like the girl i went to high school with. its plaguing the black community, that type of pressure
i truly dont see the extent of the advanages to just bein white. i have this feelin that most ppl in the discussion of 'white privilege' see the white guy as some rich corporate type. and i think a lot of white racism stems from whites who are dirt poor seein all this support or talk about helpin poor minorities and they are thinkin 'wait, what about me??' just like there are small poor black communities, the same are there for whites. im from one. most ppl will live there forever and never make a life for themselves, thats just the way it goes. the whole 'disenfranchised by the system' is such a broad statement. what aspects of the system are u even talkin about??
sure i've tried puttin myself in other ppl's shoes, but here is the ugly truth nobody wants to say and i surely wont say aloud at work or whatever: some ppl are lost causes. im sorry but for whatever reason, ppls lives play out a certain way and some people are beyond repair. it didnt change how i did my job, but i can say with almost certainty that some of the kids ive worked with will end up in jail or dead. i would bet any amount of money on that. and if im willign to say that and be honest about it, let me be honest about grown adults who are even more gone down the path of no return too. you can only try to help people, you cant fix their problems for them or be a miracle. like i said, most of the time the families ive worked with are doing nothing to help themselves and they really want to shift their responsibilities to me so when things inevitably fail, they can justify it to themselves. ive never slacked at my job because there are people who are trying and understand, but theres plenty of people like the example i just gave. i dont care who doesnt wanna talk about it and get real about it, but not all poor people or needy people are doin anything to help themselves
props to your mom, i dont have a dad either and im fine with it. i never made excuses about my actions though i can see where i made mistakes along the way that havin a father around couldve prevented or help. theres a difference between recognizing and blaming. really my point with parenting is that, especially in black communities, theres a lack of fathers around. whereas maybe i had coaches or teachers or whoever to help guide me, maybe there werent many responsible male adults around in those areas. most likely because of bein in prison. but at some point ppl need to stop blamin the system or the man or society or blah or whatever and start lookin at their own communities and themselves
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