So is it healthy to keep on promoting a thing that only highlights our differences? You said earlier that race is essentially a power structure. Don't you feel like we've come to a place as a society where the things that were created to promote equality only serve to enforce the power structure? More specifically having a Black history month, affirmative action and color consciousness all serve to reinforce the idea that Blacks are locked into a lesser position of power and thus creates a boogeyman who only serves to hinder the Black community's attempts to rise above the documented issues of inequality? Society taken as a whole is unequivocally less racist than it was 40 years ago yet the progress of Blacks feels stunted when compared to Latinos, Jews, Japanese etc. It might just be possible that we've grown beyond those initiatives I've mentioned and they are actually holding back the progression of Black culture from having a stronger internal locus of control. PS - my apologies for my first comment which in hindsight was very much so a wise ass comment that didn't help to progress a dialogue.
Excellent points. What many people don't seem to understand is that there is a difference between prejudice and racism. Just about everybody is prejudiced against something/someone. Racial prejudice becomes racism when it is backed up by pervasive and sustained institutional authority. So that, for example, racism against black people (backed up by Three-Fifths Compromise in the US Constitution, the many Jim Crow laws, police brutality, etc.) has been around since the slaves were first brought to America in the 17th century. Little attempts to address the historically and pervasively tilted playing field against blacks, such as affirmative action, didn't really even out the playing field much. Whether we like to admit it or not, we white people have had more privileges than black people for more than 300 years. And to say that racism is all gone in 2020 is patently nonsense. For example, one legacy of 200 years of slavery was splitting up families for sale, so that a father/husband was sold away from his wife/children. The momentum of these 200 years still appears today in the relative instability of black families. In any case, whether you agree with any of this or not, there is no question that Johnson has revealed himself to be at best insensitive and minimizing to the concerns of black people, and NFL players are about 70% black. The outcry of these players against Johnson has already begun and will not end easily. Some Jets players evidently already view Johnson with disgust, and they will likely choose to accept similar offers from other teams when they come up for free agency. And we will, of course, be at a serious disadvantage in signing free agents from other teams. It seems quite possible that many black players will say that there's a snowball's chance in hell that they will sign with the Jets if they get a competitive offer from another team.
I agree 100% that there's an ocean of difference between racism and prejudice and as a society we should stop trying to shoehorn everything into the label of racism. Call someone out for prejudice and at least allows the hope and possibility of a dialogue and a "rehabilitation". Most all reasonable adults are capable of admitting their own prejudice. Call someone a racist and it will be vehemently denied in the face of all evidence. This is mostly because of the repercussions of being labeled a racist. Which kind of goes to show how as a society we really are progressing. Being labelled a racist is pretty much one of the worst scarlet letters.
Completely disagree... if not for black on black crime the prison system wouldn't be what it is today. If you look at crime from lowest to highest... white on white white on black black on white black on black Who are the majority of those killed now during this craziness? and who killed them? Get some perspective. 60's protests were more peaceful and had a real purpose, the violence was in response to undue violence and somewhat (very little) justified. Ghandi helped a country realize what could be achieved peacefully. The protests today are all about destruction, looting and violence, it has nothing to do with BLM. BLM unless its black on black then its a free for all as normal. violence is more pronounced in areas where thugs are let out with no bail etc.
I think we still have a ways to go. We have definitely made progress but even things like Affirmative Action don’t solve everything and in some cases doesn’t even work (see the girl that sued about affirmative action, I think it was Harvard, and what they found out). Remember that a lot of polices stunted wealth growth for a lot of African Americans (like redlining), and sentencing for the same crime is still biased so there’s still a gap due to systemic racism. I understand what you’re saying, but as long as society still has these faults, society is still using that social construction. And I don’t think it’s always intentional. For example, most people in power positions are white, and they most likely have friends and acquaintances who are white (again not racist it’s just a normal part of society). But when offering jobs or giving people opportunities, this means that they’re more likely to offer it to an acquaintance through networking (networking accounts for how most people will most likely find their job). This is how systemic racism, that social contract, construction and power structure is perpetuated without any intentional racism. what I’m getting at is that until we stop these systemic issues, maybe we can ease back on things like BHM because society hasn’t progressed as much as it needs to just yet. PS: no worries
I don't agree that ignoring more than 200 years of slavery for blacks in the US (1619 to 1865) and 400 years of racism against blacks in the US (1619 to 2020) is the solution to our race problem. Pretending that racism is gone and everybody's equal now will just prevent us from addressing the very real inequities in our society. Black people are telling us now with new evidence about the racism they have to deal with (e.g., when stopped by the police). In the light of the unique history of racism against blacks in the US, bringing up prejudice against Latinos, Jews, and Japanese is clearly off the point. Hell, I'm Italian and could point to prejudice against us ("wops" and "guineas"), but we were white and could anglicize our names and fit in (to the point that some asshole at one point invited me to join the KKK!).
It is an unfortunate situation that the word "racism" is used and/or taken as a dismissing term cutting off dialog, instead of as the starting point of a dialog. It depends, too, on who you're talking to. I freely admit when with family and friends to having racist thoughts and feelings cross my mind, and I've found my openness to reality and willingness to face my own shortcomings to be a helpful starting point for some illuminating and helpful discussions.
The problem with race-based affirmative action is that admissions people at elite colleges are prejudiced but against lower-class people rather than black people. So that's how you end up with a situation where Harvard is admitting black students in the same proportion as the general population (https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/admissions-statistics), but only 4.5% of its students are from the bottom 20% of the income distribution (https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/1/25/harvard-income-percentile/). In other words, affirmative action results in a lot of well-to-do black kids getting in.
Most of the kids who get in are legacy students. And most legacy students are white. You’re right that more “well to do” black kids are getting in, but it’s not at the expense of poor people because those same “well-to-do” black kids wouldn’t get in without AA. Harvard is prejudice by race and class. If they weren’t, AA wouldn’t have to help “well to do black kids”. But I agree that more poor kids should get in.
i respectfully disagree....many democrats are up to their ears in criminal acts - but these things hardly ever squeak out into the public. The establishment and media "blanket" is very thick and effective in covering up all sorts of crazy things..... And if something does squeak out, it is mixed and churned so as to not even resemble the original circumstances.
is that true??.......4.5% of students from lower 20% income class. Interesting. It's pretty clear they want full cash paying customers.
While I might disagree with your opinion I have respect for the way you presented yourself in a non-confrontational way. In an age where are conditioned to hate the other political party and treat them with disrespect I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I would hope in a place like these forums where we all share years of so much Jet fan suffering we would be able to treat each other better and with more understanding. Thank you.
I have to disagree here with part of the statement, this is neither rep or dem or right versus left. This is flat out right versus wrong. While dems can be criminals there has never been as many issues with any other dem or republican president in recent history. the lies, the hate, the self promoting and deplorable acts of this administration are completely go against what this country should stand for and has stood for before in the past under administrations of both parties. I have respect for people of both Parties if the people are honest and doing the best for their constituents. McCain comes to mind along with Romney because they stand up for what they believe is right for the people. Same for people like Senator Kennedy or Rep. John Lewis. There are good and bad politicians on both sides, the difference here is we have verifiable facts on Trumps lies and questionable acts and inaction against Russia as an example versus let's say Clinton. There were allegations against the Clinton's both of them were investigated and really nothing we proven. While Clinton was impeached it was for lying about a sexual relationship with Lewinsky versus Trump Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. People need to ask themselves what is worse? Woody did something because he is being investigated by the IG he may have tried to line Trump's pockets by using his position to get a tournament at Turnberry,but what is worse is the words and actions he said and did in front of people who complained. I dont believe these are fact-less and he should be removed from his post until a determination is made. If proven true I don't think he should be in a position to represent a business that needs everyone to be equal to be successful. Do I think Woody is a racist no, do I think he is a moron yes I do
There are simply people with alternative motives that want to see the world burn, but what the media doesn't want you to see are the peaceful protests all around the country that are BLM related. I myself have been to one in Jersey City. BLM is against specifically police brutality and the social injustices that come with it - there are other movements for the other issues at hand. You have the BLM movement itself which is positive, but then you also have BLM organizations (ones paying Democrats apparently) that aren't about the movement (though they say they are).
I mean I think part of the problem is the denial of differences. People are different in so many ways. Skin color, gender, where they grew up, how they grew up, challenges they faced, who their parents were, how rich or poor their family was, if they lost a parent, what school district they went to, what their genetic makeup is, etc. There are so many. The far left tries to deny a lot of these differences. There should be no denial of differences as long as everyone is treated equal. I realize that it hasn't always been a fair game. But the playing field has been leveled a lot. What we need to stop doing is acting as if everyone is the same to try to create a uniformity and denying things like race, gender, etc. exist. They do - it's a part of society.
The issue people have with it, is the false narrative of making it a much bigger problem than it actually is. Black men are not 'hunted' every day, as professional athletes like LeBron James have stated on social media. In fact, white people are 2x more likely to be killed by a black person than vice versa. If you take a look at the percentages of unarmed black people killed by police, it's absolutely miniscule compared to what is toted by the organization and the media. The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal set that number as 9 unarmed black people and 19 unarmed white people killed by police in 2019. Note that these are political organizations on opposite ends of the spectrum. BLM funnels all or most of their money into the DNC. Can you point me to how they have helped communities they believe are afflicted by police brutality in any way? The organization has evolved into one that's run and funded by people who believe in Marxism ideology like Susan Rosenberg (convicted US terrorist that sits on the board of the organization that helps fund it), Patrisse Cullors (admitted 'trained Marxist' who is mentored by Eric Mann), and Hawk Nelson (wants to literally OR figuratively burn the system to the ground). Very few people know the powers behind it because popular culture tells you that you cannot agree with Black Lives Matter because of their name. When you can in fact believe that black lives matter (I think 99% of the population agrees with this statement) without agreeing with everything the organization pushes.
As far back as I could remember "all" cultures have an inherent form of racisms. For example, Northern Italians think Sicilians are not Italian and look down on them.. Another example, Japanese hate the Chinese and Koreans and vise versa... There are anthropological studies where tribes in the same region of Amazon and Africa where they kill, capture nd enslave. My point is that we all have an obligation to recognize it and do our part to change it. When i was a child one of my best friends was Samuel a back kid in Paterson NJ. One day I went to his house and ask him to come out and play he said he couldn't anymore because his mother said no. When I asked him why his mother came to the door and said I was white... I just look at her and really didn't comprehend what she had said or done but when I got home I mentioned that to my dad and he said, Samuel is not the problem, his mother is" and to treat Samuel the same irrespective of what his mother said...I did and we remain friends until I went into the service. Another example, is after my service time and during college a black veteran friend of mine asked me to be in his wedding. They had a party at his mother's housed to celebrate his nuptials... well frankly I was the only white person there yet was treated as an equal and respectful... BUT his father who didn't live with his mother came up to me and said, "you do not belong here and that I should leave." I didn't respond and didn't want to make a sense or cause a family issue so i was going to leave. However, his mother had seen the incident and she and her son came to me and asked me what happened. I told them what he said and that I was going to leave... They both apologized and said for me to stay and asked the father to leave... I provided these examples so that all of you can contemplate how you interact with others. Whether you interact with your own race or others races you should recognize that all people are different and that is the value of life and that how you interact does affect other... remember Jesus and the Samaritan women... As for Woody, well I try to remember what the lesson abut casting the first stone or second for that matter...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attemp...ck-man-says-group-of-white-men-assaulted-him/ One of the many examples, I don't believe this is a false narrative, but feel free to create that imagine in your head as many that don't experience these issues tend to do. If you think 99% of the population believes in that, well then I don't know what to tell you cause I surely don't see that. If you can't seperate the movement from the organizations then well again you sound misinformed my man. BTW you believe too much in the celebrity opinion. Lebron was once a hypocrite for the issues in China, he's a good man but people have agendas.
You started out great, but I respectfully disagree with the bolded. You really couldn't be any more wrong. The left and far left (progressives) don't deny the differences, they celebrate them. They embrace the differences because they make the world more rich and interesting. Think of the cuisines and foods we wouldn't have to eat, think of the interesting customs, and dress of different peoples, the differing perspectives that we encounter that challenge us to try to look at things in a different way and learn. Those things helps us, make us grow, enrich us, and make life more interesting. Think of how boring the world would be if we all looked alike, dressed alike, there were a limited number of names, a limited number of foods, a limited number of ecological systems/environments, etc. Most progressives are very compassionate, caring people. Some of them carry it way too far and want to turn our country socialist or communist, but the majority of progressives or the political left, want capitalism, but a capitalism that is constrained by protections for people. They value every human, every life, and thus want national health care, fair, just and equitable treatment for all. I haven't seen/heard one person denying that there are differences or acting as if everyone is the same, and I have a LOT of liberal and progressive friends. I also have a lot of ultra-conservative friends, as I used to be very conservative. I think that a lot of moderate and conservative white people just don't think about minorities very much or what their experience is like. They just assume that the experience of minorities is the same as theirs. Liberals work to learn what others' experiences are like, and they are the ones participating in peaceful protests, and supporting BLM, and trying to remove the systemic racism from our laws and government systems.
