If some are inclined to miss the unfairness around them, is it not equally possible that others see unfairness where none exists? Nowhere in the public arena do paranoia and privilege collide more explosively than on the topic of unequal treatment under the law. In making their case, black advocates uniformly cite the videotaped incidents that by now have become an eponymous part of the national conversation on race: Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Philando Castile. All gave oxygen to Black Lives Matter, and later to the NFL's take-a-knee protests. Surely videos can be dramatic exhibits in mounting a case for extrajudicial violence. What a video cannot do, of course, is show us whether excessive force is excessively applied or racially motivated. For that we must turn to facts and figures.
A study out last week suggests that the view of law enforcement as a hotbed of racism is indeed highly inflected by paranoia. "Is There Evidence of Racial Disparity in Police Use of Deadly Force?" examines available data from police shootings in 2015 and 2016. The authors observe that determinations of bias normally are made simply by "comparing the odds of being fatally shot for Blacks and Whites, with odds benchmarked against each group's population proportion." That necessarily yields an incomplete picture, the authors assert, because of the substantial per capita difference in crime among blacks: "When adjusting for crime, we find no systematic evidence of anti-Black disparities in fatal shootings, fatal shootings of unarmed citizens, or fatal shootings involving misidentification of harmless objects."
Even without such adjustments, the raw numbers are telling. In 2017, American cops killed 19 unarmed blacks. There are 30 million blacks over age 18 living in America. The 19 killings thus represented a death rate of .00000063333 - less than one ten-thousandth of 1 percent. Nothing can be deduced from a sample that small. Across the spectrum of America, random events take a much higher toll. In one recent year, 84 people died after being mauled by "a mammal other than a dog."Each year some 340 Americans die in their own bathtubs. If this year half of them are black - well above the expected distribution, given blacks' Census representation of 13 percent - we would not investigate whether bathtubs had developed racist tendencies. We might, however, adopt a commonsense behavioral lens, investigating whether any new behaviors were exposing blacks to greater danger at bath-time. Interestingly, such reasoning is considered impolitic in assessing contacts between blacks and law enforcement. As a society, we are seemingly proscribed from ascribing black misfortune to black causation.
In any case, police unquestionably target and hassle blacks much more often than they do whites, right? Not so fast. In the Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS), conducted semi-regularly by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and based on a sample of some 60,000 US residents aged 16 or above, respondents describe their recent police encounters. Both blacks and whites are overwhelmingly approving of police conduct, resulting in but a minor difference in the perceptions of the propriety of their respective stops: 83 percent approval for blacks, 89 percent for whites. Although whites also appear to benefit from a modest imbalance in the use of force, force is surprisingly rare overall, occurring in just 3.5 percent of contacts for blacks and 1.4 percent for whites. Keep two things in mind here: One, this includes some percentage of encounters where force was required to apprehend a suspect or stop a crime. Two, for the purpose of this analysis, 'force' encompasses such relatively benign practices as "shouting, cursing, threatening, pushing or grabbing." Finally, for all the anxiety over the supposed metastasizing of 'stop and frisk' policies throughout society, there were no statistical differences between blacks and whites in the frequency of street stops-less than 1 percent for both.
And yet, with each new incident one observes that knee-jerk inclination for leading black voices (and their media allies) to view it metaphorically, as confirming evidence of a well-known truism. Case in point: The damning original narrative out of Ferguson, MO was quickly discredited (and later debunked in a DOJ investigation). No, a passive black man was not ruthlessly gunned down while trying to surrender to a cop; rather, he was trying to wrestle the officer's gun away from him. Nonetheless, the Michael Brown case kicked Black Lives Matter into overdrive, while "Hands up, don't shoot!" became a ubiquitous slogan, chanted even by CNN hosts as they sat at their desks. (To this day the incantation appears on t-shirts worn by social justice activists everywhere.)
How does it happen that a young man is miscast as the poster boy for a malaise that doesn't exist? One might argue there are three factors in play. The first, unsurprisingly, is mass media, with its sensationalized wall-to-wall coverage of incidents that do occur. The second is the spectacular valence of so-called Black Twitter, with its exponential multiplier effect. The third and newest factor is the ascendancy of a phalanx of African-American authors, who have developed a perverse interest in the commodification of racial pain. They include Mr. Dyson, the New York Times's Charles Blow, columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., Marc Lamont Hill, and the much-celebrated Ta-Nehisi Coates. Collectively they cook up for their hungry audience a distasteful stew of slavery, Jim Crow, KKK lynchings, mass incarceration, the emergence of the 'alt right,' and - above all - the primacy of so-called 'lived experience.' Think of the psychic damage done to their audience by this never-ending immersion in white malfeasance.
And so I will close by making a simple request of Mr. Dyson and all purveyors of such unremitting racial grimness: check your paranoia.
Steve Salerno is a widely published essayist and professor of journalism. His 2005 book, SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless, explored the self-improvement industry's wider footprint in society. You can follow him on Twitter @iwrotesham
Comment: The current discourse around race has reached a level of absurdity rarely if ever seen previously. The SJWs are seeing the world through a completely distorted lens where 'facts' lose all meaning and simply serve an agenda.
See also:
- Black parent in North Carolina unhappy with 'white privilege' propaganda sent home with her 8-year-old son
- Two Canadian schools face blowback for 'white privilege' awareness campaigns
- Students at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology must write essays on white male privilege
- Canadian university to hold 'white privilege' conference following cancellation of free speech event hosted by Jordan Peterson
- Middle school caught giving students 'white privilege' survey
- Poverty and misfortune come for all: The absurdity of saying 'white privilege'
Reader Comments
Shalom
The Irish too were enslaved in America. The Irish too were lowest on the totem pole, discriminated against, had higher crime rates. Was it because they were Catholic? Was it because they were willing (had to) work for lower wages? Was it because they could be used to divide people against themselves?
One of the things I have learned from the past is to NOT allow us to be divided against ourselves. If you encourage divisive thoughts and attitudes, then you are not working for people who want to live together, you are working for the 1%
Paranoia is just another dose of 'bad' medicine... like radiation or chemo treatment for those with cancer.... and given to the herd in the usual fashion.... 'dumbing down' process... originally the target was the natives peoples... but after most of them were killed off, a new 'fall guy' had to be setup.... and the banksters and media types didn't want their own 'chosen people of Satan' group targeted... so go after the easiest prey.... the 'blacks'.... isn't that how it works in nature? The predators always target the easiest prey.... and look who finances these 'BLM' type groups... Oh, Soros types.... the usual imperial endgame of 'perversion' in the name of 'freedom'.... decades of dumbing down make them easy prey to manipulate.... and so the game of empire goes... until it ends.. and sets up elsewhere.... if not for the cyclical arrival of Mother Nature, the usual 'out with the OWO, in with the NWO' would go 'East'..... but Big Momma has other plans... .and it's very doubtful that most of these sheep dogs working the herd have been informed about that.... not in the sense that if they aren't SG, they don't count.... not on that team anyway.... most of the herd is easy prey.... no pain, no gain.... the usual way with our catalyst, individually or collectively.... what it kept out of the discussion is any words that don't stay on script.... black, white, brown, etc..... sheep are sheep... racial issues remain, but in different classifications.
Often figures are used for propaganda. So how does that negate the reality of math? No one's disputing the history. The history is relevant. The figures do suggest that this racism has diminished.
"Who were the first people in America? Why isn’t there any mention made of them as the indigenous/native Americans?"
Where are they not mentioned? They are mentioned in every American history class. Or do you mean some other people, because I do not understand.
"Check the wars around the world. Who are the people responsible?"
The ones fighting them.
"Let’s look at how the ‘racial paranoia’ began."
Fear of new and different things, disgust, and suspicion.
"shit you are attempting to cloud with your bullshit numbers"
Racial paranoia is awful. How does that cloud anything? And now you are suggesting the numbers should be disputed. That's fine. So what are the real numbers?
The argument, promoted quite reasonably by the PTB, is that essentially whites have not been subjugated to the same extent as other, but they should be ... everyone should be equally condemned to utter misery
I wouldn't call our current situation a privilege ... just less damned maybe
What I write, is to encourage the beginning of that openminded-discussion.
Shalom
Again, forget the distractions, look at the story behind the stories.
Shalom
Until these atrocities are discussed, we are going nowhere. And yes, there are those who like it that way. They are afraid of the truth that will emerge.
Shalom
Racial paranoia? Are you out of your frigging mind?It's quite obvious that you are subscribing to the modern, cookie cutter, carbon copy pre-disposition. There is a mind boggling dichotomy of thought prevalent in the mindset of the majority in 2018. It's amazing to me that we spend so much time thinking about the future, planning for it, hoping to build something better, and yet we are eaten up with disdain for the past, a past that is becoming so distant that it has lost any true bearing on society as a whole. It's akin to being in a shitty relationship and just hanging on, hoping that things get better. This mindset, much like the one that keeps us in the chains of self imposed oppression within said relationship, is only serving to cause you internal harm. I see the damage. I see a sea of people moving without direction. We hate without justification, I.E. we rarely ever understand the circumstances and background that lead to the ideology of the fully formed individual. Instead we revert to tribalism and generalization.
As is customarily done, figures can be made to speak any desired language. If you really want to speak white privilege versus racial paranoia, let’s step back for a wee moment in time. What exists today, did not begin today.
Let us begin by looking at the ’burnings’/hangings/slaughter of the enslaved. How many Black men have you seen hanging a white person on a tree. Burning a white person on tires? Read “Without Sanctuary”.
How many white persons have you seen hosed down with water, as minorities? How many white persons were subjected to sit only at the rear of a bus, in a designated area? How many white persons were disallowed from using certain public amenities? How do you define the position that was taken in granting less than 100 Black veterans homes after returning from the war, when the white vets had approximately 67,000 homes to themselves? How many white people were lost during the period of enslavement? Over 200 million black lives were taken, beginning in the 15th century.
We could look further back, if you feel able enough so to do. Who attempted to steal the story of the Afruikan/Black-man? Lied their way into so-called history? Who were the first people in America? Why isn’t there any mention made of them as the indigenous/native Americans?
Check the wars around the world. Who are the people responsible? The theft of resources around the world. Who are the people responsible? The butchery/murder/rape/slaughter/etc around the world. Who are the people responsible? I could go on almost perpetually, without repeating anything.
Forget your bullshit numbers. Let’s ‘conversate’. Let’s look at how the ‘racial paranoia’ began.
Like I said, that shit you are attempting to cloud with your bullshit numbers, means absolutely nothing. Let’s establish context.
Shalom
The sad thing is that the answer to all of this is so simple that it hurts to even have to say it. It is so simple in fact that a small child could, and most likely would, employ the same methodology. It is a choice, brother. It is as simple as a change in mindset. We have to stop being weak-minded sheep. We have to stop viewing an individual as a absolute part of a collective. Forget the past. The past is long gone, brother. If we could take down this wall of intrinsic malice based on our environment and the media and voices in power that spin this type of garbage on us and say, " I am going to interact with my fellow man today as an individual, and I will judge them not on the principles of their tribe, but on their individual merit," We could instantaneously change the world. Sure, it's idyllic, but at the same time it is the absolute easiest thing we could do to improve our current state. Despite what anyone feels about Christ, he did get one thing right. Love is the answer. Love is a choice. I am not my ancestor and neither are you. This is no longer their world. It is ours. Let's make something better for ourselves NOW. Not everyone is going to subscribe to this ideology, and of course there will be resistance, but a single spark always has the potential to light a great flame.
All I'm saying is that we've tried it one way. We've tried for hundreds, even thousands of years. Would it hurt to just try a new method? What do we have to lose?
It's never truly been black and white anyway. It's us vs them. Plain and simple. We just happen to be so separated that on an individual level it is hard to discern sometimes who "us" is.
btw George... the reason people might think you want to live in the past is because Blacks in the past is all you ever talk about.
Didn't you see the sign?
"When passing through, please don't get your balls caught on the barbed wire".
People keep saying “forget the past”, without the past would we have had today? Absolutely not. Without today, would we have tomorrow? Again, absolutely not. “Despite what anyone feels about Christ, he did get one thing right.” Questions – why is there no historical or archaeological evidence of ‘Christ’? Actually, there is nothing about ‘Christ’ outside the bible. Back-tracing the bible, it was taken from the Hebrew bible. In the Hebrew bible, there are over 6200 mentions of Yahweh the Father, other numbers for his son Yahshua. Why is there no mention of ‘Christ’? Why is it, the Jews worship Yahweh and Yahshua, but spit on ‘Christ’? Yet Christians believe the Jews wrote the bible. How can you worship someone who never existed? Have you ever seen the image the Pope and his crew worship? Maybe you ought to check. The tax-structure is based on earnings of the past year, key “past”. Why don’t people refuse to pay tax since it concerns the past? Why do plan for the future, since the future has it basis in the past. On and on.
“I am not my ancestor and neither are you.” Sorry old chap, speak for yourself. I am my ancestor. Or don’t you know Afruikan history? Why do you think it is called ancestral memory? That which ought to be controlling you. Do not be afraid of the truth of history. I am not speaking his-story. Afruikans today are suffering because they have chosen to disassociate themselves from their story. They have instead chosen the lies of his-story. Maybe my brother, you should begin researching why ‘white’ people are experiencing their attacks from their consumption of melanin-derived products. Maybe you should research why melanin is going for almost 400USD per gram. Maybe you should read the Emerald Tablets of Thoth. Maybe you should research from whence came the books of the bible, especially Genesis. I could go on almost perpetually.
People are afraid to speak history because they are totally ignorant of history (not his-story), afraid to learn the truth, afraid of what the truth will do, etc. Please read Fomenko, learn how history was inverted. Read Quiggley, learn how history was and is manipulated, and other similar books. That did not, and is not happening for exercise. research the people who control the world. Check their involvement in things history or his-story.
It will take an essential understanding of the past, to put what the world is going through, into perspective. And similarly into the future.
Good!
Shalom
This needs repeating...Racial paranoia? Are you out of your frigging mind?It's quite obvious that you are subscribing to the modern, cookie cutter, carbon copy pre-disposition. There is a mind boggling dichotomy of thought prevalent in the mindset of the majority in 2018. It's amazing to me that we spend so much time thinking about the future, planning for it, hoping to build something better, and yet we are eaten up with disdain for the past, a past that is becoming so distant that it has lost any true bearing on society as a whole. It's akin to being in a shitty relationship and just hanging on, hoping that things get better. This mindset, much like the one that keeps us in the chains of self imposed oppression within said relationship, is only serving to cause you internal harm. I see the damage. I see a sea of people moving without direction. We hate without justification, I.E. we rarely ever understand the circumstances and background that lead to the ideology of the fully formed individual. Instead we revert to tribalism and generalization.
As is customarily done, figures can be made to speak any desired language. If you really want to speak white privilege versus racial paranoia, let’s step back for a wee moment in time. What exists today, did not begin today.
Let us begin by looking at the ’burnings’/hangings/slaughter of the enslaved. How many Black men have you seen hanging a white person on a tree. Burning a white person on tires? Read “Without Sanctuary”.
How many white persons have you seen hosed down with water, as minorities? How many white persons were subjected to sit only at the rear of a bus, in a designated area? How many white persons were disallowed from using certain public amenities? How do you define the position that was taken in granting less than 100 Black veterans homes after returning from the war, when the white vets had approximately 67,000 homes to themselves? How many white people were lost during the period of enslavement? Over 200 million black lives were taken, beginning in the 15th century.
We could look further back, if you feel able enough so to do. Who attempted to steal the story of the Afruikan/Black-man? Lied their way into so-called history? Who were the first people in America? Why isn’t there any mention made of them as the indigenous/native Americans?
Check the wars around the world. Who are the people responsible? The theft of resources around the world. Who are the people responsible? The butchery/murder/rape/slaughter/etc around the world. Who are the people responsible? I could go on almost perpetually, without repeating anything.
Forget your bullshit numbers. Let’s ‘conversate’. Let’s look at how the ‘racial paranoia’ began.
Like I said, that shit you are attempting to cloud with your bullshit numbers, means absolutely nothing. Let’s establish context.
Shalom
The sad thing is that the answer to all of this is so simple that it hurts to even have to say it. It is so simple in fact that a small child could, and most likely would, employ the same methodology. It is a choice, brother. It is as simple as a change in mindset. We have to stop being weak-minded sheep. We have to stop viewing an individual as a absolute part of a collective. Forget the past. The past is long gone, brother. If we could take down this wall of intrinsic malice based on our environment and the media and voices in power that spin this type of garbage on us and say, " I am going to interact with my fellow man today as an individual, and I will judge them not on the principles of their tribe, but on their individual merit," We could instantaneously change the world. Sure, it's idyllic, but at the same time it is the absolute easiest thing we could do to improve our current state. Despite what anyone feels about Christ, he did get one thing right. Love is the answer. Love is a choice. I am not my ancestor and neither are you. This is no longer their world. It is ours. Let's make something better for ourselves NOW. Not everyone is going to subscribe to this ideology, and of course there will be resistance, but a single spark always has the potential to light a great flame.
All I'm saying is that we've tried it one way. We've tried for hundreds, even thousands of years. Would it hurt to just try a new method? What do we have to lose?
It's never truly been black and white anyway. It's us vs them. Plain and simple. We just happen to be so separated that on an individual level it is hard to discern sometimes who "us" is.
"It is a choice, brother. It is as simple as a change in mindset. We have to stop being weak-minded sheep. We have to stop viewing an individual as a absolute part of a collective. Forget the past. The past is long gone, brother. If we could take down this wall of intrinsic malice based on our environment and the media and voices in power that spin this type of garbage on us and say, ' I am going to interact with my fellow man today as an individual, and I will judge them not on the principles of their tribe, but on their individual merit ," we could instantaneously change the world.' ... "Love is the answer. Love is a choice. I am not my ancestor and neither are you. This is no longer their world. It is ours. Let's make something better for ourselves NOW."
Thanks, glasses0420, for adding a constructive suggestion into this overwhelmingly angry thread. This problem needs to be solved, but we will never find the solution by arguing with each other with anger and hatred in our hearts.
I have searched the page several times, and I have not seen the word 'tissue' mentioned anywhere.
Please help me in discovering the use of the word, on the page.
If on the other hand you wish to engage in comedy, satire, etc, I am more than willing so to do.
Holler.
Shalom
glasses0420 Okay. Let's try this again.That's okay brother. You don't see it yet, but I am confident that you will one day. I just hope that when that day comes it isn't too late. Even though you foolishly assumed my academic background or personal habits in regards to what I have and have not studied, I still love you, brother, and I still believe you are better than the prevalently cynical mindset that you have imposed upon yourself.
People keep saying “forget the past”, without the past would we have had today? Absolutely not. Without today, would we have tomorrow? Again, absolutely not. “Despite what anyone feels about Christ, he did get one thing right.” Questions – why is there no historical or archaeological evidence of ‘Christ’? Actually, there is nothing about ‘Christ’ outside the bible. Back-tracing the bible, it was taken from the Hebrew bible. In the Hebrew bible, there are over 6200 mentions of Yahweh the Father, other numbers for his son Yahshua. Why is there no mention of ‘Christ’? Why is it, the Jews worship Yahweh and Yahshua, but spit on ‘Christ’? Yet Christians believe the Jews wrote the bible. How can you worship someone who never existed? Have you ever seen the image the Pope and his crew worship? Maybe you ought to check. The tax-structure is based on earnings of the past year, key “past”. Why don’t people refuse to pay tax since it concerns the past? Why do plan for the future, since the future has it basis in the past. On and on.
“I am not my ancestor and neither are you.” Sorry old chap, speak for yourself. I am my ancestor. Or don’t you know Afruikan history? Why do you think it is called ancestral memory? That which ought to be controlling you. Do not be afraid of the truth of history. I am not speaking his-story. Afruikans today are suffering because they have chosen to disassociate themselves from their story. They have instead chosen the lies of his-story. Maybe my brother, you should begin researching why ‘white’ people are experiencing their attacks from their consumption of melanin-derived products. Maybe you should research why melanin is going for almost 400USD per gram. Maybe you should read the Emerald Tablets of Thoth. Maybe you should research from whence came the books of the bible, especially Genesis. I could go on almost perpetually.
People are afraid to speak history because they are totally ignorant of history (not his-story), afraid to learn the truth, afraid of what the truth will do, etc. Please read Fomenko, learn how history was inverted. Read Quiggley, learn how history was and is manipulated, and other similar books. That did not, and is not happening for exercise. research the people who control the world. Check their involvement in things history or his-story.
It will take an essential understanding of the past, to put what the world is going through, into perspective. And similarly into the future.
Good!
Shalom
And FYI, just because we have access to texts of the past does not in any way mean that they should be used as a road map for the future. They should serve as a warning. They haven't exactly ushered us onto any sort of positive trajectory.
Thank you EC. It means a lot that you see the flaw in this ideology. I have no intention of attacking anyone. I believe that unity will come, but it will never truly come if its predicated on guilt, hatred, or malice. Keep fighting the good fight!This needs repeating...Racial paranoia? Are you out of your frigging mind?It's quite obvious that you are subscribing to the modern, cookie cutter, carbon copy pre-disposition. There is a mind boggling dichotomy of thought prevalent in the mindset of the majority in 2018. It's amazing to me that we spend so much time thinking about the future, planning for it, hoping to build something better, and yet we are eaten up with disdain for the past, a past that is becoming so distant that it has lost any true bearing on society as a whole. It's akin to being in a shitty relationship and just hanging on, hoping that things get better. This mindset, much like the one that keeps us in the chains of self imposed oppression within said relationship, is only serving to cause you internal harm. I see the damage. I see a sea of people moving without direction. We hate without justification, I.E. we rarely ever understand the circumstances and background that lead to the ideology of the fully formed individual. Instead we revert to tribalism and generalization.
As is customarily done, figures can be made to speak any desired language. If you really want to speak white privilege versus racial paranoia, let’s step back for a wee moment in time. What exists today, did not begin today.
Let us begin by looking at the ’burnings’/hangings/slaughter of the enslaved. How many Black men have you seen hanging a white person on a tree. Burning a white person on tires? Read “Without Sanctuary”.
How many white persons have you seen hosed down with water, as minorities? How many white persons were subjected to sit only at the rear of a bus, in a designated area? How many white persons were disallowed from using certain public amenities? How do you define the position that was taken in granting less than 100 Black veterans homes after returning from the war, when the white vets had approximately 67,000 homes to themselves? How many white people were lost during the period of enslavement? Over 200 million black lives were taken, beginning in the 15th century.
We could look further back, if you feel able enough so to do. Who attempted to steal the story of the Afruikan/Black-man? Lied their way into so-called history? Who were the first people in America? Why isn’t there any mention made of them as the indigenous/native Americans?
Check the wars around the world. Who are the people responsible? The theft of resources around the world. Who are the people responsible? The butchery/murder/rape/slaughter/etc around the world. Who are the people responsible? I could go on almost perpetually, without repeating anything.
Forget your bullshit numbers. Let’s ‘conversate’. Let’s look at how the ‘racial paranoia’ began.
Like I said, that shit you are attempting to cloud with your bullshit numbers, means absolutely nothing. Let’s establish context.
Shalom
The sad thing is that the answer to all of this is so simple that it hurts to even have to say it. It is so simple in fact that a small child could, and most likely would, employ the same methodology. It is a choice, brother. It is as simple as a change in mindset. We have to stop being weak-minded sheep. We have to stop viewing an individual as a absolute part of a collective. Forget the past. The past is long gone, brother. If we could take down this wall of intrinsic malice based on our environment and the media and voices in power that spin this type of garbage on us and say, " I am going to interact with my fellow man today as an individual, and I will judge them not on the principles of their tribe, but on their individual merit," We could instantaneously change the world. Sure, it's idyllic, but at the same time it is the absolute easiest thing we could do to improve our current state. Despite what anyone feels about Christ, he did get one thing right. Love is the answer. Love is a choice. I am not my ancestor and neither are you. This is no longer their world. It is ours. Let's make something better for ourselves NOW. Not everyone is going to subscribe to this ideology, and of course there will be resistance, but a single spark always has the potential to light a great flame.
All I'm saying is that we've tried it one way. We've tried for hundreds, even thousands of years. Would it hurt to just try a new method? What do we have to lose?
It's never truly been black and white anyway. It's us vs them. Plain and simple. We just happen to be so separated that on an individual level it is hard to discern sometimes who "us" is.
"It is a choice, brother. It is as simple as a change in mindset. We have to stop being weak-minded sheep. We have to stop viewing an individual as a absolute part of a collective. Forget the past. The past is long gone, brother. If we could take down this wall of intrinsic malice based on our environment and the media and voices in power that spin this type of garbage on us and say, ' I am going to interact with my fellow man today as an individual, and I will judge them not on the principles of their tribe, but on their individual merit ," we could instantaneously change the world.' ... "Love is the answer. Love is a choice. I am not my ancestor and neither are you. This is no longer their world. It is ours. Let's make something better for ourselves NOW."
Thanks, glasses0420, for adding a constructive suggestion into this overwhelmingly angry thread. This problem needs to be solved, but we will never find the solution by arguing with each other with anger and hatred in our hearts.
The context has already been established. You're in the here and now. You don't have a rope around your neck. You don't have to sit at the back end of a bus. Capitalising on the suffering of long dead people you never met in your life, who you probably don't actually give a crap about, when you yourself haven't suffered is tantamount to grave-robbing, and although you may find it convenient to do that, it's not something that's forced upon you, it's your choice.
What do you know about my suffering? Let's hear it. Or are you simply going to maintain arrogant diatribe, bump your gum?
Would you be kind enough to demonstrate the suffering you have been through. You have the answers.
Shalom
Now, does the fact that I am white and grew up in a small farm town with 99% white people mean I was never discriminated against? Not in the least. I was born in the town I grew up in, but my parents weren't. I was an outsider my entire life until we moved. Even when everyone looks the same, people find a reason and a way to discriminate.
Highland Fleet Lute It's funny, you don't know me, yet you choose to make assumptions about meI think I can safely assume that you haven't been lynched or packed into a sardine ship.
Would you be kind enough to demonstrate the suffering you have been through. You have the answers.Displaying your wounds for your own fun and profit is not ethical. Displaying other people's wounds for your own ready cache, is virtually criminal.
If you want to engage by hurling bullshit, sorry, that's not my thing. If you want to engage on the basis of what I have written, that will be more than welcomed. Truth be told, you will not engage in my initial response. Why? It is because you are absolutely ignorant of history or his-story (if you prefer). Your choice is to hurl bullshit, and not make a meaningful contribution that will hopefully demonstrate you did not spend the majority of your time in the mall, instead of the classroom.
This is therefore an open challenge to you, on the basis of my initial response. Let's see what you have beyond your signature bullshit.
Shalom
Cashe: 'A collection of items of the same type stored away in hiding or for future use.'
A casual observer could quite easily conclude: "Probably scared of white people", "Probably loves his race paranoia so much he daren't risk having to let go of it", etc.
Please I urge you, let's engage on my first response, to which you have been commenting.
Shalom
First and foremost, I dare you to prove (with facts) any of what I have written, anywhere, inaccurate/incorrect/wrong (your choice). Even the nonsense you have mentioned about my website. At least have the human-decency to put up, or shut TF up.
Criticizing comes easy, especially for the uneducated (I am not referring to schooled). Backing-up what they with facts, never. Contributing, foreign concept to them. It is time people like you are called out. That’s what I do.
Again, I challenge/dare you to prove (with facts) anything that I have written wrong. I will even throw my opinions in the mix. I dare you.
When you want or feel inclined to come at me, make sure you have/possess established facts, correct quotations, etc. When you do that, we can meaningfully engage.
BTW – if you (or anyone) would like to see where, why, and how I engage, search SOTT for my very first engagement with the chap who attempted to show the bible was influenced by Plato. I am not aware anyone attempted to engage me beyond my last response. If you are aware, I wish you would inform me. Other forums normally email when someone responds. Feel free to visit them as well.
History scares the shit out of people like you. Until such time, put up or shut TF up.
Shalom
But thanks for displaying SOTT "editors'" true colors. Word is out. Enjoy your little frat-house supremacist circle-jerks.
"Enjoy your little frat-house supremacist circle-jerks."
Oooo-ooh!!!
All races have had some form of indifference set upon them throughout history (as have been noted in the comments) and in case you are interested see: The Spanish and Aztecs, Britain on their own people, and The Rwandan genocide. Race and culture mean nothing when someone is out for power or rule over others. However, it appears that some in the African American community would prefer to hold on to this indifference then use it to justify their own intolerance of others. While I acknowledge the history of Africans to America, consider the Native Americans, and Australian Aboriginals. They could give you a lesson or two on continued true suffering, loss of identity, and the absence of self determination. The Aboriginal Australians are not even acknowledged as a people in the Australian constitution. Hell, up until the late 60's, they were still classed in the category of flora and fauna (plants and animals if you didn't know the terms).
Perhaps instead of solely focusing on one form of oppression, spread it out over time and you will see, white or black, it makes no difference.
Joe's point nigh perfectly sums up what is one of SOTT's best qualities (of a sort that should be all over the internet - yet is not, thanks to P.C. idiots like you). His words:I've grown and watched this change from a real problem (e.g., S.C. 1966 me asking my dad, "what is with those signs above the water fountains? They're both the same color. yet the sign says one is 'colored." You ever experience that? (Or George L?) I did, and from that time though when I first saw black and white kids playing together -1982 - I saw the changes for the better and the preceding ugly side of the conflicts.
"Wow, you're pretty reactionary, eh? In case it has escaped your notice, articles that appear on Sott.net are not the opinion of Sott.net, but are instead chosen specifically in order to encourage discussion and learning. So you can let up on the childish attacks. "
This is a hugely complex issue - with accompanying facts - that are so ...huge, counter intuitive and 'out there' that the shortness of your snippy dismissal is a strong indicator of the dearth of your awareness of any relevant facts, and also of the vacuity of reason behind your ill/not -supported claim.
R.C.
Word is out. Enjoy your little frat-house supremacist circle-jerks.Jebus H. Christ, project much?
bholanath It is this approach that causes the issues we see in society today. You come here, blast the article with rhetoric and ad hominem attacks, then, offer no sensible dialogue yourself.Good on you, prehistoric. I like the way you think.
All races have had some form of indifference set upon them throughout history (as have been noted in the comments) and in case you are interested see: The Spanish and Aztecs, Britain on their own people, and The Rwandan genocide. Race and culture mean nothing when someone is out for power or rule over others. However, it appears that some in the African American community would prefer to hold on to this indifference then use it to justify their own intolerance of others. While I acknowledge the history of Africans to America, consider the Native Americans, and Australian Aboriginals. They could give you a lesson or two on continued true suffering, loss of identity, and the absence of self determination. The Aboriginal Australians are not even acknowledged as a people in the Australian constitution. Hell, up until the late 60's, they were still classed in the category of flora and fauna (plants and animals if you didn't know the terms).
Perhaps instead of solely focusing on one form of oppression, spread it out over time and you will see, white or black, it makes no difference.
In my case, it was 5 Asians. I took it to be character-building. You should thank them RC.
However, I recall one incident...
I wandered into The Fridge nightclub one evening. I went up to the bar and ordered a drink. Then this really good looking black chick started talking to me. One thing sort of led to another and she asked me if I wanted to go down onto the dance floor for some shing-a-ling action. I said "Sure, why not?"
So, we're dancing away on the dance-floor to some sh*tty House music track or other, then all of a sudden we're surrounded by a ring of so-called black blokes, who are spitting at us.
I didn't blame the whole of the so-called black race for this incident, just the five idiots in question.
Protect the innocent, prosecute the perpetrator, I say.
Shame that happened to you HFL, but i know you got thick skin - and your 'being' didn't get perverted and twisted into prejudice because of the experience. Not succumbing to emitting negative frequencies due to the negative experience you experienced is a great strength, HFL. It may do more good 'out there' than you realize on a cosmic level.
Did it toughen me? Damn straight! Am I still the guy you want on your side in a fight? F*cking A!
Did lessons get learned? Sure.
But I even learned more when a drunk white trash redneck came at our parked-in car with a Universal M1 Carbine. (M1 30 cal.) paratrooper stock, and I got to watch how in tbe three seconds from when he threw in the 30 round banana mag, charged the bolt and now was at our window . . . And yet, FWIW, I'm more of an anti drunk-rednecks who hated us just for having long hair,. while in point blank range, than against a pack, of brothers each of who each had removed their 'allowable' steel 'picks' from their afros (that was SOP, too).
As I said, it's a long complicated little story about growing up in the violence I survived. By my tenth reunion, we had three guys on death row; one put down. To top it off, that guy had hit a friend from behind with a lead pipe. The friend was still in a coma. The SOB - who happened to be a black scumbag - was off suspension three days later and back at school extorting for a living, while my buddy was STILL in a coma.
And what does and has that friend - who, with me, was the only other white boy on the track, team- what's he done for thirty years? Defend capital murder case defendants, about 55% are black. 'Twas a complicated time and place.
R.C.
I don't need you to tell me how I got tougher, and I'll be damned the day I 'thank' any of these sorry, violent bastards for lessons I "learned."
Again, that was first day of school.
R.C.
R.C.
That's the spirit R.C. … So now I know you understand, then, that all races are EQUALLY arseholes... But different strokes for different folks.
That was a rare incident, and in all my many years living in Brixton, I experienced almost-next-to-nothing in terms of racial abuse, or abuse that could have been interpreted as racial abuse.
Q: Is that Chopin in the picture? You? *
R.C.
* I asked before, but if you answered, I'm unaware-(or, more scarily, if I did, I do not recall..? I sure hope not )
RC
"Reactionary"? That's all? You failed to mention so many of the other favorite racist-white-genocide push-back vocabulary. How about - angry, fanatic, hateful, anti-white, over-empathetic, reverse-racist, commie, divisive... I could easily send ya'll about a 100 links to unconscious and systemic racism and white fragility, but you're probably not interested...too much self-inquiry required.
How about - angry, fanatic, hateful, anti-white, over-empathetic, reverse-racist, commie, divisive...Again, project much?
If you'd been here more than 5 minutes, you'd know how silly you sound.
I could easily send ya'll about a 100 links to unconscious and systemic racism and white fragility, but you're probably not interested...too much self-inquiry required.You definitely should check out the "Science of the Spirit" section. But that would require letting go your ideological possession...
bholanath If you want to identify as "angry, fanatic, hateful, anti-white, over-empathetic, reverse-racist, commie, divisive" then feel free.I guess at the end of the day, Joe, the overwhelming majority of people just have to learn for themselves. He doesn't see it yet, but I have a feeling he will one day. If we can ever break this ridiculous cycle he will have no choice but to see it. The only other option in that case would be to be left behind by society.
I'm picking up what you're putting down though, brother.
Why don't you then? Once again, short on specifics, probably 'cause you're not interested in specifics.
You're obviously someone far too used to people yielding to your infantile temper-tantrums.
@Bezel Bub - comparing Obomber to Baldwin is an idiotic stretch, but go ahead... since you've such deep knowledge of Baldwin and his "relevance" to current conditions, by looking online for 5 minutes.
And speaking of racism, you seem full of racism and hate. Tell me, when someone seems to hate everyone like you do, is it still called racism, or maybe just a few sad and pathetic pages in the latest edition of the DSM-IV-TR?
"We"?... If you don't have blond hair and blue eyes or not a ginger - then "we" is too subjective even for you Bezel Bub. If you DO have blond hair and blue eyes or you're a ginger, then you're a friggin imbecile to be living in one of the most blistering deserts on the planet with your complexion!
dom·i·nateˈdäməˌnāt/verbverb: dominate; 3rd person present: dominates; past tense: dominated; past participle: dominated; gerund or present participle: dominatinghave a commanding influence on; exercise control over."the company dominates the market for operating system software"synonyms:control, influence, exercise control over, command, be in command of, be in charge of, rule, govern, direct, have ascendancy over, have mastery over; More
white people only make up 11.5% of the worlds population.. we are very clearly VASTLY out numbered.
I've always hated the heat here (I was born in the SF Bay area, live there and near Edwards in the Mojave), then our family moved to Cocoa with the space program.
I am a 'ginger' auburn hair that as it gets bleached goes from dark auburn to platinum white. In two different places I was given the same nickname: "Rainbow Head." (Growing up here, everyone had constant nicknames. Moi? "Wads Jr." No thanks. R.H., "Sea Dog" per Captain Crunch's faithful pup due to my penchant for staying out surfing for hours after all others wished to drive home/too beat. (I used to compete in surfing, racquetball and...SNOW SKIING!)
I've always hated the heat, am paying for it, and it's worse here than there or at least that's what my visiting SoCal girlfriends who well knew The Great SW would say, despite my warnings and personal experience.
I wouldn't trade growing up here, though. Rockets, surfing, and stuff for the book...
R.C.
Over 70% of my friends here were, like me, born in California, whose fathers volunteered for the USAF and Korea. We all moved here in a great reverse/EB migration.
We could have flown, but my father insisted on renting a car and driving, which got me into a lifelong habit of US cross country driving. LOVE IT!
As we drove down the strip in Vegas, Connie Francis was displayed as playing at one of the big casinos on the right. Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, LBJ's ranch (also was on the right - I didn't then have knowledge of reasons I should have flagged the place a bird.)
It's now takes about half the time it once did. I've some crazy Fla to SoCal to Fla. stories from before I-10 was finished that are .... wait for the book.
(I'd bet I'll publish some excerpts here should SOTT find them worthy.)
*I had and lost a relevant Seger quote here... which led to..."I'm not 'dissing' him, and though
R.C.
*Same thing that REM went through. Too popular so kids decided "they're uncool, dude." There was a Beatles music/film festival about 1 mile from my house one day ~1975, and I literally snuck to it, because 'The Beatles are a group that your big sister listens to."
I quietly disagreed. I ran into a friend since 3rd grad who'd likewise quietly gone there. He's long been a professional musician, guitar, piano, wind instruments, esp. flute and sax, and man! the then-politically-correct crap he got in HS for being in the band was insane. (Just like the mid 70s PC-dislike of the Beatles.)
Meanwhile I played and play piano, guitar, and vocals. The women he's grabbed by his sax and flute playing has been phenom. "He who laughs last..." (The main reason most of us started playing.)
One ski trip with 6 total CHS crew: We'd dragged enough equipment to play live if needed. One hell raising night at the ski condo off peak 8 in Breck:, I used a CHS-era scuff ('insult') and said to him:Gotta go. Thanks, B.C., SOTT, and all worthwhile commenters. Apologies for the disjointed lack of editing.
R.C.: " F*** you. Here, play this oboe?/flute?/wind instrument?*"(I forget.)
Friend C: "Sorry, I don't play piccolo."
RC
"Your dipshit ageist code was a nice touch."
What 'dipshit ageist code'?
"Why it's so Difficult to Talk to White People About Racism"
Difficult to talk to which specific so-called white people about racism, exactly? Or perhaps you think of so-called white people as some kind of unipsyche white-devil borg, which makes you what, exactly? It should be said: Viewing the world through the cracked tinted spectacles of so-called 'race', makes it pretty difficult for anyone to talk about anything.
I see George L is still cowering under the bed. Probably terrified some pink person is going to come along and prick his race bubble and he'll have no new clothes left to stand up in.
Come on out to Indian Country, USA and show us your snarky bad-assness. The Native women are waiting.
With these racial stuff, what you aren't taking into account is that the vast majority of racial minorities in the States think all these stuff. That's the bottom line, that's the starting point.
Perhaps maybe we can dig up an article with a survey that shows that isn't true either?
On the other hand, what also matters is that a whole bunch of people think a whole bunch of other people are eternal victims. And that's their starting point.
So you have 2 camps with differing views and voila, we have all the lovely ingredients for conflict.
Lastly, there's a 3rd group, the people who live on and thrive on conflict. It brings out their genius, their knack for survival, it shows others how clever and gifted they are... case in point, HFL, our resident provocateur, shamelessly thriving on the carcasses of the damned, like a vulture or hyena that takes itself to be a lion or a tiger.
Such notions don't just appear out of thin air... something brings them about and helps them take root and germinate. And like one of those trees with roots that spread out far and wide, such things take over a whole group of people, be it based on their colour or gender or heck, even individually, thinking the world is out to get you.
But alas, we all know, rarely is it that the one(s) who are thinking such stuff are 100% right or wrong... usually it's somewhere in between. Something might be up, but perhaps not as far or bad as they think or maybe they might even be thinking about it the wrong way.
Anyways, bringing it back to racial tensions, what's rarely mentioned is the power of history and the meaning it brings upon a people. HFL for example is proud of British history, Joe is proud of his irish ancestry... they know where its rooted, what it means and who it tells them to be wary off and not wary off. In a way, it imbues them with a certain kind of meaning and identity. This is all obvious, right? You travel around Europe and you meet a whole bunch of americans hunting down their ancestral heritage - oh, I'm 50% german, 30% irish etc etc you hear. Rarely do you hear, I'm 100% american from these folks who will spend countless amounts of money hunting down their ancestry, having their genes decoded etc.
So, black americans... as a group, where does their history begin? Of course it begins in the slave ships. That's their opening chapter. And like you who pays homage to where your history begins, they also pay homage to where theirs does. After all, even JP says life is about meaning, extracting meaning from your experiences.
How are you going to have a whole bunch of people deny themselves ancestral history when you personally don't do it... HFL stands firmly behind what he takes to be British, no doubt Joe stands firmly what he takes to be Irish... and you honour this by being a certain way, acting a certain way, whether consciously or unconsciously.
So riddle me that... how can african americans extract meaning from their roots and at the same time, elevate themselves beyond that trauma in a way that satisfies white america?
And no, sadly, history isn't dead. Who we are doesn't spontaneously reinvent itself every single day, it has roots beyond the present, identity and meaning extends in time.
You question should not have ended with " elevate themselves beyond that trauma in a way that satisfies white america?", but rather that satisfies themselves as a culture and a people looking to the future. I think thats where the mistake is made. No one should think they should satisfy anyone (especially a race) but themselves and their own culture. If you feel the need to continually seek the approval of another, how do you suppose to rise above any historical trauma?
I believe the problem is that they as a general rule can't see beyond the trauma.
'African Americans' are only 'a people' in the sense of a shared skin colour (which is superfluous) and a shared traumatic history (which is where the true binding agent is).
You take away slavery, white supremacy and all that, what will you have left? A group of people bound to nothing and no one other than some ephemeral notion of what it is to be american.
But america is not a single unified thing... It's a collection of many things, many disparate groups brought together from various places. So whoopty do, the great conundrum of people making and nation building
An alcoholic gets together with other alcoholics and talk about their own trauma that they not only inflicted upon themselves, but that of their families, friends, and coworkers. They confide in each other these personal issues and seek the advice and help of others (regardless of skin color, belief) to overcome their past indiscretions. Many of whom become life long friends.
I understand this analogy of trauma is different but the idea of working through and overcoming the past issues is the point. The problem I see is that many in the current generation had not experienced these times and certainly did not suffer through slavery. Their ancestors fought segregation yet they find it necessary to re-segregate themselves from the community and blame others who also did not participate.
At what stage do current generations stop living on the backs of their past and find ways to move forward, collectively?
"...A group of people bound to nothing and no one..." it was never thus. Does "our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor" sound familiar? There was over 175 years of inbound migration by millions of Europeans, and 388,000 Africans, before that phrase was put to paper. Among my ancestors are Scrooby Separatists, who left for Holland so they didn't have to spend any more time in the dungeon in England for their religious beliefs. From there to the newest colonies of North America. And Swiss Anabaptists, sent to exile in Germany for their religious beliefs. And Catholics on the Ark and Dove, escaping persecution in Anglican England. And personal friends of William Penn, who came over with him and a boat full of fellow Quakers. Some ancestors died on the passage over, leaving spouses and children to make their way without them. All faced extreme conditions, and relied mightily on their communities for mutual support. Being American was not an ephemeral notion to them I think. Peace be to you.
Or, in a different lingo:R.C.
"Word, dude!"
Not particularly. That's an erroneous assumption on your part that springs from your own poorly addressed personal existential predicament.
#worldbank
Come in, George L.
A scary blue-eyed person wants to talk to you.
Do you read me?
Over.
There's an oft said quote about junkies...
"Before you discover heroin you have a lot of problems. After you've discovered heroin - you only have one problem".
Perhaps the same could be said about skin-tone obsessives.
See Gurdjieff/Ouspensky viz. 'identification'.
Yeah, it's all just "racial paranoia".
Any mention of the history of cop/race relations in Ferguson? Nope.
2017 civil suit - cop Wilson admits Brown didn't go for his gun, nor could he since it was locked in the holster. Also admits he didn't roll up his window or move his car if he was fearing being punched. He just pulled it himself and pointed it at Brown. Different narrative from your author's prime example of the usual "black guy's guilt".
Sorry, just fact. If you lived in amerikkka, you'd know the whole article is bullshit, pure racist agenda.
But stick with your "racial paranoia" belief system if it makes you feel comfortable and smug.
Yeah, it is. But obviously, racial paranoia is a door that swings both ways.
If you insist on kicking that door, it's gonna come back and smack you in the face.
I wish someone will also indicate what will happen tomorrow, if it does not have a basis today.
Similarly, we could not have gotten to today without a review of the past.
If contributors wish to engage on the points I have made, I am more than willing. Let's go. If on the other hand they wish to bump their gum, I decline.
If folks here wish to converse about what's happening today, without looking at what transpired yesterday, it simply tells me they have not idea of what was mentioned, not equipped to appropriately engage, and seek this existence in the fallacy of their escapism. It's where their comfort-zone resides. That is why so-called exceptional countries have the world in its present state. History was manipulated to suit the elites, while the masses slept. And so it goes.
Let's go!
Shalom
"what will happen tomorrow, if it does not have a basis today" Well, if you live in the past, you can have no stable base for the future.
Next question
I mean, so what about who-invented-the-wheel, anyway? Whether it was the pink people or the yellow people or whoever it was. You personally haven't invented anything, and the invention of the wheel, electricity, the Dansette portable picnic record player or whatever is none of your doing. The achievements of your ancestors are not yours. The sufferings of your ancestors are not yours either.
Meanwhile, I suggest you stop bumping your gums. Your teeth may not have been properly formed or set.
The 'information' on my website was placed there for people with the capacity to think, critically analyze, etc, not toddlers.
When you have grown enough to accept my challenge thrown-down for you, holler.
Shalom
Shalom
Is there a comprehension problem? Would you like me to assist in getting over it?
Shalom
I am well aware of what you stated in your original post. No where did you mention anything about living in the past. What you did though is point out, rather sensationalised, certain atrocities of the past. How do you suppose to come to terms with those items and move forward. Notice I did not say forget and move on, I am saying come to terms with them and learn to move forward.
Every post you contribute you ask us to challenge you, but when we do, you throw up the defensive wall and hide behind the past. Perhaps it is not me who's conflicted.
Apprehension – (1) anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen. (2) understanding; grasp. Comprehension - the ability to understand something.
Let’s choose (2) above, as the running-mate to comprehension.
I am under the assumption that you possess the capacity to differentiate between the two. If I am wrong, holler. Impress me, if so inclined. Likewise the capacity to think, and thinking, are not the same. I will place special emphasis on ‘critical’, which I suspect may be foreign to you. Surely, I hope I am wrong with that suspicion.
Your possession of a water-tank having the capacity of 800 gallons, does not mean the tank contains water. I am not so sure what illusion you suffered, in order to write what you wrote.
The following is my short version from yesterday, just in case -
“Man, you are exhausting. Instead of sensationalizing as your media will normally, you should have quoted what I said. I urge you and all to go back and review what I said. This is what I said - "First of all, I wish someone will point out what I said indicating people should live in the past." Your corrupted mind chooses the last words (people should live in the past) in order to get your your teacup storm going. That's goddamn dangerous.
Is there a comprehension problem? Would you like me to assist in getting over it?
Shalom”
Let me put you on guard, make sure you have/possess established facts, correct quotations, etc, when you want to come at me. When you do that, we can meaningfully engage.
BTW - I have just glimpse your last response. It is funny that you have actually acknowledged your foolishness, yet attempt to justify your sensationalism, and feel inclined to accuse me of same. That's what I call a pathetic fallacy, look it up.
Shalom
Would you be kind enough to link me to the pages (all) on which I have been challenged. I need to address those.
When in a couple days I do not see challenge(s) to what I have written, I do not return to the page even if I can search for it. You seem to know the pages. So please be kind enough to accede to my request.
Shalom
"hide behind the past "? Are you outta your frigging mind?
If your challenge does not associate with what I wrote, do you sanely believe I will respond?
If your answer is "yes", undoubtedly, you will appreciate my use of the word 'sanely'.
Send me the links to the pages, or shut TF up.
Shalom
Words not often put in such close proximity with each other.
Probably sums you up.
Those still clutching to racial identity for notions of self determination and pride are backward flat-earthers indulging in incest.
I'm a Globalist. All y'all Black White Brown flat-earthers - piss-off!... I don't like incest.
the people segregate themselves naturally. and it is proper and a good thing and should be supported.
So keep your 'natural' "segregation" to yourself, HVACTech... Like i said already, I don't like incest!
I don't like the railway going up to the top, it spoils the experience - but its sure handy for older folk like yourself
I remember coming out of that Italian barbers on Abbeville Road on a hot sunny day into a brand new world. It was considered a very weird thing to do at the time. The general consensus of the age was, long hair = progress. I remember the barber being very reluctant cut it off. He really quizzed me, "Are you sure you want it all off. Are you sure you're sure you want it all off", etc. I think he thought my mum might come up to his shop and give him a load of grief, or something.
It's very difficult to get over to modern folk how new, strange and counter-intuitive that look, and the reggae music that went with it was at the time. It caused a lot of shock and general heebie-jeebies. People couldn't make head nor tail of the music, and the look delivered this kind of 'cultural short-circuit' message.
Yeh, new strange and 'counter-intuitive' music was pretty much all grass roots back then. Now its all corporate astro turf... 'Shock' is soooo contrived and artificially manufactured now.
I wonder sir.. have you ever thought about WHY we have "China Town"? is it because China people like the company of other china people? has that EVER occurred to you sir?
growing up in Detroit Mich back in the day. we not only had ethnic festivals, we had ethnic neighborhoods. it was a total blast and I loved it.
birds of a feather flock together dude . if the people want to protect their own culture and live among other people that are like themselves. they should be left alone to do so.
I had no idea how good I had it back then... not only did we have Motown music..
we had the J.Giles band.
[Link]
I suppose: Good thing about barbering: Very low overheads + no one ever asks for a receipt. You can pretty much make it all up as you go along. LOL.
"good point sir. I stand corrected."
Thats the head of your nail struck right there. I see hope for you yet, HVACTech.
You see, flocking, i guess, is for grouped soul-pools: Lesser developed individuate souls 'needing' to flock together on physical genetic soul-group basis of shared soul-fragments to stick together to form a more 'whole' soul unit. Its their choice, so thats fine, being like pigs in shit... Its easy and its cozy. Very understandable. Very snug.
However, those wanting to develop their soul to be more individuated - soon find themselves transcending the limitations of affiliated genetic-centric pooling so anchored to the world of base-physicality. The problem arises when those wanting to remain in lesser-developed soul-group/pool stagnation mode, go to great lengths to hold back all and sundry those developing a higher dimensional aspect of the individuated soul. I take great exception to that. Of course, I came to realise its because those developing higher individuated souls are a constant reminder to those wallowing in their lesser developed soul-groupings of their own inferiority and failure to better themselves. They don't realise of course, because the subconscious mind rules them. The problem is this also makes them potentially very dangerous to those seeking higher individuality. Thats what the Inquisitions were all about. "Flocking" is only good for so long...
The thing is, although it takes time, those of a more individuated soul disposition start to flock together too - but its to do with soul, not genetic blue-prints and cultural pre-determinations handed down through localized socio-politic geo-centric ancestry.
I should add: Its less about individuated souls being superior, more about those attaching to soul-pools keeping themselves inferior.
'Black Lives Matter'.
Is not the supposed 'Fall of Man' sometimes described as 'The Descent into Matter'?
At track practice and on the bus to from track meets on sundry transistor radios.
Also, being on the track team helped keep the number of fights down for us.
Our school was as large as they then got 4A, and in ninth and tenth grade I was the #2 guy in the 110 meters, (5'3' then, I'd guess). Another knickname, from the bros, this time: 'Crazy legs RC' as I've always been slightly bow legged - which helped in Racquetball and surfing.
R.C.
Have your own Reasonable Agreeable White Slave who can cook and clean, build almost anything, repair almost anything, decent gardener, good landscaper/designer, sculptor... and then some.
No kinky stuff, see terms and conditions.
No time waster or racists please.
"My first inclination is to think, what relevance does a post-war / beat generation era African American, gay writer have on a conversation about racism in 2018? My interest piqued, I did some stumbling around online and ran across this snippet from Mr Baldwin; " I learned in New Jersey that to be a negro meant, precisely, that one was never looked at but was simply at the mercy of the reflexes the color of one's skin caused in other people..."
That's known as 'alienation'. It's a psycho-social condition commonly experienced by pink, yellow and brown-skinned people, and has zip-all to do with dermatology.
D'ye get me, George?
I wish someone will be willing to point out to me, anything that is happening in their life that does not or did not have its basis in the past. Impossible. Similarly, I wish someone will be willing to point out to me, anything that is planned/projected to happen in the future that does not have its basis in the now/present/today, or possibly in the past. Again, that’s impossible. Life as we know it, runs on trends, the past. Imagine if you will, a visit to the ‘car-shop’ to have repairs done on your vehicle, and the technician asks “What do think will go wrong with your car?” If you don’t know from whence you came, any direction to an unknown future becomes acceptable, and most probably will get you there, hopefully.
It amazes and amuses me when characters accuse me of being racist (from the negative point of view), or afraid of white people. Here’s why. At least 97% of the facts I use, are taken from history books written by white people, or other related media produced by white people – Blavatski, Breasted, Budge, Freeman, McCabe, Massey, Volney, to name a mere few from the wash of white historians. The data I use is normally quoted, and reference data provided as is normally considered acceptable. I have never had anyone ‘attack’ the authors referenced. But I, the mere user and presenter of their data, is called racist. Amazing. Is it because the authors are white?
Every time I write, it is not only to address the concern to that of which I am responding. It is to indicate something meaningful that can cause someone to research what is written, and make a contribution. That holds truth especially for Afruikan people, who seem not to know their story. I am not referring to ‘his-story’. Some Afruikans tend to think ‘his-story’ is history. It is absolutely not. In my humble opinion, there is a clear line of demarcation between ‘his-story’, history, and Ourstory. I won’t go into that now.
I suspect when we have appropriately matured as a society, we will be comfortable in addressing issues of ‘race’, approaching with an opened mind. Until such time, we will forever choose to call each other names, beat around the bush with frivolous nonsense and distractions, whilst exercising what we perceive as privilege to pull other people down. Maybe then, we will be willing to look back on history, and having concensus, make the wrongs right. Then there will be meaning to term unconditional love.
To those who hide or masquerade behind or in filth, I pray that Almighty Jah will set y’all free. That you will grow, and contribute to society, regardless of chosen medium.
To those who know different, and differently, I say thank you when you call me a racist. Here’s why. Someone who proficiently plays the piano is called, a pianist. A professional rider is called a cyclist. There are those who are pertinently qualified, and called psychologist, sociologist, dentist, etc. If in handling issues of race I am called racist, I expressedly thank you. Maybe you are seeing more in me than I am seeing.
Ignorance is not that we don’t know, for if it was, all of humankind will have been stupid. In my humble opinion, ignorance is that you don’t know, yet choose to do absolutely nothing about it.
Jah most High.
Shalom
Was referring to this post George
"Almost forgot.
What is written on my website is for adult thinkers.
Those who can critically analyze, appreciating facts after their own research of the stated.
For the little 'ones' and toddlers, please bear with me. I am looking at doing something for your age-group. "
Those who forget or ignore the past, are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.Taking a break from absurdity for a while... quote “if history shows us anything... it’s that History always repeats itself” along those lines.
You’ve read that book ‘Political Ponerology’ superimpose that dynamic on any type of ideology, business even... the dominant movers and shakers and their peculiar followers do their thing, over and over and over... ad nauseam.
And It don’t matter a dam if it’s about race or any dam thing one can find... there’s a bunch of worms that never sleep within any collective body of people, they will usurp what would be legitimate concerns and turn rational action on its head for its own ends... or so it seems.
Shoot each generation is super awesome and messed up in their own way too... things change when we make an effort to change ourselves... failing that its back to historic pain and stupid suffering on a grand scale... till the next notable cycle or age of heightened hysteria... which can be an opportunity for people see the dynamic that were all immersed in and make a choice...
History seems to say that were all idiots (we don’t learn collectively), it would be nice if in the future if history could say that people started to wake up... yeah that’s not about being just aware of all the crap that going on in the world... past and present brutal idiocy, it’s about getting past the usual reactions...
History is important, the underlying BS that keeps humanity repeating the same patterns is probably the only thing that might save us from extinction by our own (unconscious) participation/reaction.
Is there a solution... well not repeating history would be it, knowing how not to repeat history that would be a fine thing collectively.
Now excuse me I’m going back to absurdity...
I suspect when we have appropriately matured as a society, we will be comfortable in addressing issues of ‘race’, approaching with an opened mind. Until such time, we will forever choose to call each other names, beat around the bush with frivolous nonsense and distractions, whilst exercising what we perceive as privilege to pull other people down. Maybe then, we will be willing to look back on history, and having concensus, make the wrongs right. Then there will be meaning to term unconditional love.Sorry but you are completely off base here, bud. When we have finally matured as a society we will see how asinine it is to relegate every single petty and solitary issue into one of racism. We will realize that our similarities far outweigh our differences, and sadly those who are still ensconced in the same bitter, nihilistic, and anti-progressive ideology that you are espousing here will be left out in the cold desperately hanging in to their futile quest for totality.
If that isn't obvious to you, take a look at the interactions of current middle school and high school students. I have a 16 year old brother, and to he and his classmates race is a non-issue. In every passing generation there are less and less outliers. Change is coming. Unity is coming. The dam is breaking, and at this point, as they say, it's time to "shit or get off the pot."
I wish you could see that this is not the right way to make a change. Its only going to leave you even more angry and more bitter with each passing year as you see the world unite without you. This media facade will fade away, mark my words.
Good idea. Besides which, you haven't got any humble opinions, George. Only gross, bombastic, 'Back to The Atlantean Garden fantasies that will only get you to the nut-house.
Racial Paranoia is one of many prisons wings in HMP Alienation.
Self Remembering, Being Present, etc, are Get Out of Jail Cards. They are not free, either for Blacks, Pinks, Oranges, Yellows, Blokes, Chicks, Gays, Straights, Democrats, Republicans, or whoever else. They can only be earned by Work.
Identification, and thus, 'Identity Politics' is the ballast that keeps the prison walls intacto. So if you want to ensure you remain in jail: hurl yourself into Black Politics, Gender Politics, Sexual Identity Politics, Left/Right Politics, Us/Them politics, blah blah, etc.
" Identification, and thus, 'Identity Politics' is the ballast that keeps the prison walls intacto"R.C. {I need a smiley holding its fingers in an 'O.K.'/'Perfecto' sign.
Perfecto!
RC
Simply because of timing, place, and whatever other variables, I could begin to comment on this general subject from a place of experience with the high, the low, the good and the bad.
My city, for the last two? (at least one) decennial censuses was the only city in Florida to lose population. Why? The violence of 'My Old School.' While we had a black v. white race war going on, the stupidity award goes to the white rednecks; who, because they disliked we surfers, who had happened to evolve into longhairs. (At least the players in the insane dramas of my 7th through 12th grades were legitimate originals; who got their cultures far more naturally than how most places did. We had old time rednecks Florida Crackers; Blacks, (mostly descendants of former Southern Slaves), and the smallest group: 'surfers', which the idiot rednecks' programmed dislike of us - called us Long Haired Hippy Fagg*t M.F.'s. I got in more than one fight by saying to such, "I bet you can't say it in a different order: go ahead, try it. You know, like LHFMFH, etc." The Bob Seger song 'On The Road' speaks "the same old cliches, is that a woman or a man" of what it was like to drive across to California for us, which we all did a lot, and I did more than any I knew.
That approach by the rednecks split what should have been a 52% white majority high school into a 48% majority black school, with whites split into 25% rednecks; 15% surfers and 12% apathetic irrelevant victims of blacks.
Just one more of many fight stories . . but there are so many. When I was a very furry 9th grader - first semester - (I have a mustache in my age 14, 9th grade yearbook picture). Well, in the P.E. locker room, a pre-adolescent buddy of mine was getting harrassed by a black guy who was in 11th? grade, and who had 20-30 pounds and 4" taller than me. I told him leave my friend alone. "Fuck you, Honkey!" Back to fucking with my <90lb friend. When he didn't stop, I ran at him, picked him up by his biceps and slammed him into a wall of steel lockers with the square sharp edged shaped pieces folded at 90 degrees (flat but sharp) cut steel for the locks to go into. He hit it a foot in the air, kind of stuck, and slid 'catchily' down. The amount of blood was scary. We got out of there; no hassles from him anymore; no 'official report' etc. And that was a rare event because usually blacks would attack in groups of three to one or worse. Not rednecks.)
Realize that those who lived on the West side of Florida's Intracoastal Waterway are a totally different and closer to the earth group of people than those on the rich side. So when this was happening - say from 72 - 79 - the folks from the other places looked down at us for being from the poor side of the river.
(The worst example of this contrast are folks from "West Palm Beach" and Palm Beach (where until 20-25? years ago the cops were still pulling over black folks who had to have work permits - I forget the details, other than being shocked at how it had managed to exist as long as it did.)
I am from Cocoa; NOT Cocoa Beach. If you ever wish to get a rise out of someone who's from CB, introduce them as saying 'x is from Cocoa.' The vehemence of their instantaneous correction will be hilarious. (They can surf better than we, on average, but we can kick their asses in a bar fight, shoot both pool and guns far, far better. Two different worlds about 5 miles apart. (Merritt Island in between.)
In my career about 1/2 of my employees and >60% of my clients have been black.
R.C.
I've used up my work-time to further respond properly to any comments today. But you've given me some thoughts.
Keep strong, bro.
I've had over fifty full anesthesia surgeries (plus another 40? that docs 'call' - and surely bill more for - 'surgeries') = mostly for bladder cancer. (Thank Bush*t I for that**) but about >15 were for orthopedic injuries. I still surf but I sadly now ski better. (Other stories)
R.C.
* And, as I read this, I'm proud to say that despite having been placed in position to LEGALLY kill over 11 people (no shit) I've not killed one, and only two ever saw my weapon. (One involved my decision not to break the neck of a 'burglar assailant' in my office - as the law defined and convicted him.) (I'd already decided not to shoot sorry and police-manipulated-SOS (sack of sh*t) -SOB with a 9MM Sig P226 in a drawer 12" from my right hand while he was 12' from me. A sad part about such event is the VERY likely role of our gendarmie(sp) in instigating that event. (Again, if/when you read the book, you'll say "That's gotta be R.C.")
** Reply with the correct chemical molecular formula - e.g., CO2, H2O, H2SO4, H2O2 - which had back then ordered to be missing, and I bet you'll likely know others who've so suffered. (And damn, ain't that gonna get people to mostly guessing wrongly?)
As nedlud would say:
R.C. Out.
Glad you didn't have to kill. But, if you ever have to - then, you know... you have to! STS-Extreme types - or brainwashed OP's doing their bidding - may force you into a position where you have to put them down by any means necessary - more so if vulnerable loved-ones are at serious risk - and there's no other help. They would force such a situation on us - or that which we hold most dear?... We don't ask it! Always remember that, RC. Yes, to kill would no doubt alter something within our soul on a fundamental level, but the alternative may not bear thinking about! Julius Caesar understood the necessity of having to kill in a terrible world... He got right down and bloody... and I'm inclined to believe he was the greatest of all men... someone to aspire to.
Is it because they don’t know? Is it because they know the truth, and afraid truth will surface?
Are these the type of people who will take their automobile into the garage (car-shop if you will), and simply say “Please repair my vehicle.”, and walk away without making mention of the history of symptoms?
Will they acknowledge the amount of resources used because they did not explain the history of symptom(s)? And pay the price/cost of the work performed?
Now, are they willing to take that same approach to fix the ‘problems of race’?
If there is anyone on this page willing to take that approach, would you be kind enough to inform me. I await.
It is either we acquire some common-sense, or perpetually fight symptoms without addressing the root-cause. We are faced with paying, what we cannot afford. Simply walk into the garage, and say “Please repair this.”, and walk without no mention of the history behind what went wrong, will never be good enough.
Shalom
"THOSE WHO DO NOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT"...
Is a quote most widely known as being a key part of the fixtures and fittings of the Jim Jones compound....[Link]
My personal experience with friends of Native, Black, Asian ancestry is one of confirming their doing the work personally in this process. However, while most of our Anglo friends and young people are fast moving beyond racialism, there is in actuality an explosion of White racists coming "out of the woodwork" and feeling their time of supremacy is finally arrived. Their agenda has nothing to do with post-racialism or individuation, and this is the real situation in US today.
People of color, in the process of individuation, are confronted with this reality. It cannot but resurrect their own and generational memories, adding another layer to the "work" - a layer I/we, as a white person, don't have to deal with.
No one can force any individual or group to "work harder" on this or any other spiritual process, nor can we assume we know that person's or group's actual experience of the challenge of "race". We, as a species, can advance a lot faster with the engagement of the faculty of empathy.
An Identity Crisis as Human Beings [Link]
As is customarily done, figures can be made to speak any desired language. If you really want to speak white privilege versus racial paranoia, let’s step back for a wee moment in time. What exists today, did not begin today.
Let us begin by looking at the ’burnings’/hangings/slaughter of the enslaved. How many Black men have you seen hanging a white person on a tree. Burning a white person on tires? Read “Without Sanctuary”.
How many white persons have you seen hosed down with water, as minorities? How many white persons were subjected to sit only at the rear of a bus, in a designated area? How many white persons were disallowed from using certain public amenities? How do you define the position that was taken in granting less than 100 Black veterans homes after returning from the war, when the white vets had approximately 67,000 homes to themselves? How many white people were lost during the period of enslavement? Over 200 million black lives were taken, beginning in the 15th century.
We could look further back, if you feel able enough so to do. Who attempted to steal the story of the Afruikan/Black-man? Lied their way into so-called history? Who were the first people in America? Why isn’t there any mention made of them as the indigenous/native Americans?
Check the wars around the world. Who are the people responsible? The theft of resources around the world. Who are the people responsible? The butchery/murder/rape/slaughter/etc around the world. Who are the people responsible? I could go on almost perpetually, without repeating anything.
Forget your bullshit numbers. Let’s ‘conversate’. Let’s look at how the ‘racial paranoia’ began.
Like I said, that shit you are attempting to cloud with your bullshit numbers, means absolutely nothing. Let’s establish context.
Shalom