Let's Talk About Race
I just love hearing about the Rutgers women's b-ball team being on Oprah. Oh my precious Lord their hurt feelings have just ground their lives to a halt. Being called "nappy headed hos" has stripped them of their identity. It has erased every good thing in their lives. From here until they die they will forever harbor the anger, hurt, and outrage at being called a name. These poor, poor things! How will society ever make it up to them? Their futures have been ripped away from them, will they ever recover?
Yeah, so, um, when are the four Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape going to be on Oprah? 88 professors from their own university encouraged their students to prosecute these guys, the university turned their back on them, the coach of their team lost his job, and for one whole year they had to wear the label "rapist" across their foreheads even though they knew damn well they were innocent. The prosecutor who wanted to get elected hid information from the defense and would have sent four innocent guys to jail simply to further his own career. Think that hurt their feelings?
An entire community picketed their homes, spat on them, called them all kinds of names, and publicly shunned them. Think that hurt their feelings?
How about having to undergo countless humiliating medical tests and conduct interviews with an uncaring press who had already assumed their guilt. Think that might have hurt their feelings?
We'll never see the lacrosse players on Oprah getting the apologies THEY deserve. We'll never hear Jesse Jackson say he was wrong and apologize. The New Black Panther Party will never apologize. The 88 professors who were openly hostile toward these players will never apologize. The entire community and world that labeled them guilty based on no evidence will ever apologize. And why? Because those four boys are white.
Oh, that's right, I SAID IT! We white folks are the only one's who can be racist. If I walk into a McDonalds and get spit on by black people it will never make the news (and yes, it happened to me, so shut up). Oh my God Black, Latino, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian people can be as mean and nasty and racist to white people as they want and no one says a word, but let a white person get out of line and the bullshit goes all the way to the White House.
The idiots who presumed these white lacrosse players were guilty will never be held to the same standards as Don Imus. They won't be smeared in the press or made to retire their posts. They won't lose advertising money or their reputation. They will simply say, "Oopsy," and go on with their lives. And we, the white folks, will simply have to sit back and take it. Why? Because that's just how fucked up our society is. Hundreds of years ago we owned slaves and it's still being held against us.
I'm not apologizing for slavery because I didn't have anything to do with it. If a black, yellow, or red person treats me like shit I expect they receive the same treatment I would get if the roles were reversed. This is just like the n-word. Because I'm white I can't say it, but if I weren't white it would be just fine. Hell, if I were black I could use it every day. How is this fair?
We white folks haven't cornered the market on racism. In fact, I dare say that the other races in this country are a hell of a lot more racist than us honkies. They can get away with it. They are the "minority" so it's okay for them to pick on us. It's okay for them to ruin our lives but GOD FORBID a member of the "majority" should do anything that can be construed as racist.
Here is a parting thought for all of you. White isn't the majority anymore. Why? Because truly white people are dying out. Our races are mixing so much that in another 100 years we're all going to start looking the same. Our eyes will become a uniform shape, our skin will become a uniform color. The races will no longer be distinguishable. What are you going to do then? I guess you'll just have to accept that some people are just hateful assholes and get over it.
(Note: Oprah DID have the lacrosse players on her show when this whole thing started. She treated them with respect and was a very gracious host. However, I doubt we'll see them on her show again.)
Yeah, so, um, when are the four Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape going to be on Oprah? 88 professors from their own university encouraged their students to prosecute these guys, the university turned their back on them, the coach of their team lost his job, and for one whole year they had to wear the label "rapist" across their foreheads even though they knew damn well they were innocent. The prosecutor who wanted to get elected hid information from the defense and would have sent four innocent guys to jail simply to further his own career. Think that hurt their feelings?
An entire community picketed their homes, spat on them, called them all kinds of names, and publicly shunned them. Think that hurt their feelings?
How about having to undergo countless humiliating medical tests and conduct interviews with an uncaring press who had already assumed their guilt. Think that might have hurt their feelings?
We'll never see the lacrosse players on Oprah getting the apologies THEY deserve. We'll never hear Jesse Jackson say he was wrong and apologize. The New Black Panther Party will never apologize. The 88 professors who were openly hostile toward these players will never apologize. The entire community and world that labeled them guilty based on no evidence will ever apologize. And why? Because those four boys are white.
Oh, that's right, I SAID IT! We white folks are the only one's who can be racist. If I walk into a McDonalds and get spit on by black people it will never make the news (and yes, it happened to me, so shut up). Oh my God Black, Latino, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian people can be as mean and nasty and racist to white people as they want and no one says a word, but let a white person get out of line and the bullshit goes all the way to the White House.
The idiots who presumed these white lacrosse players were guilty will never be held to the same standards as Don Imus. They won't be smeared in the press or made to retire their posts. They won't lose advertising money or their reputation. They will simply say, "Oopsy," and go on with their lives. And we, the white folks, will simply have to sit back and take it. Why? Because that's just how fucked up our society is. Hundreds of years ago we owned slaves and it's still being held against us.
I'm not apologizing for slavery because I didn't have anything to do with it. If a black, yellow, or red person treats me like shit I expect they receive the same treatment I would get if the roles were reversed. This is just like the n-word. Because I'm white I can't say it, but if I weren't white it would be just fine. Hell, if I were black I could use it every day. How is this fair?
We white folks haven't cornered the market on racism. In fact, I dare say that the other races in this country are a hell of a lot more racist than us honkies. They can get away with it. They are the "minority" so it's okay for them to pick on us. It's okay for them to ruin our lives but GOD FORBID a member of the "majority" should do anything that can be construed as racist.
Here is a parting thought for all of you. White isn't the majority anymore. Why? Because truly white people are dying out. Our races are mixing so much that in another 100 years we're all going to start looking the same. Our eyes will become a uniform shape, our skin will become a uniform color. The races will no longer be distinguishable. What are you going to do then? I guess you'll just have to accept that some people are just hateful assholes and get over it.
(Note: Oprah DID have the lacrosse players on her show when this whole thing started. She treated them with respect and was a very gracious host. However, I doubt we'll see them on her show again.)
posted by Barbarian02003 | Thursday, April 12, 2007
3 Comments:
Bravo! Well said!
This is a topic that is long overdue and you touched on every important point that needed to be made. The whole point of racism is that it's counterproductive. It doesn't solve anything and it's negative. I've gotten to the point many times where I am finding it hard for the "white race" to be proud because we are being TOLD that we are ALL racists. Most people don't realize that EVERYONE has an element of racisim in them. It's part of being human and it doesn't just happen here in the US. It's a world wide issue.
If we went to the UK do you think the people over there would be happy to see an American? No. My brother lives in Japan and he is a redhead. Think he fits in with all of the black haired slant-eyes? No. He's told me that it's very difficult and they don't call him names. They just pretend he doesn't exist. No matter where you go, the human race is cruel and heartless. It isn't going to change unless EVERYONE realizes this.
True. So true. Being prejudice because of social status, money, and so on has been going on since Jesus. Yet here we are trying to deal with it like it's an issue that will die. It will never die. As long as two people on this planet are still alive it will not die. Why? Because no one likes everyone all the time.
Barbarian,
Very well spoken – I really liked this post.
I have been working on a historical review of racism in the United States, one which I plan on posting when I get back. You will be very surprised to find out just where it came from and why. My trip to Virginia has also given me the opportunity to collect some research about slavery and get some fascinating perspectives from the Founding Fathers.
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