First off, let me preface by saying that I don't think most will read through this, as I think it may get a little long winded. 99.9% of my posting is done on my phone while shitting or waiting on something, so normally a post from me is little more than a few words jumbled together.
That said, I am reading many posts here lately about racism, and I do not think that it is just on our particular board, but is part of some growing unrest in our country. A little background on myself. I am white, married, two kids, and make what most consider a lot of money (although it's never enough). I don't deal with most of the everyday crap with minorities that some of you seem to do. I hear a lot of complaining, and my first thought, is why don't you move? I realize some go you may not want to leave an area you have been all of your life, and that you have an attachment. I can respect that.
One of the common misconceptions that I believe black people have about whites, is that anything that they do (or don't do in some cases) against blacks, is because of some race related reasoning. I am here to tell you, that I believe that not to be the case. White people are indifferent in general. We don't care about our own people. Case in point, the statistics for black on white crime are significantly higher than white on black. Do I really care? No, not really. Do I think outside of a few people on the internet, and your occasional protester, that any other white person does? No, I don't. We don't care about anybody but immediate family and friends. I don't have a "bond" with anybody because of race, that seems to tend to happen in the black community. This is a bad thing sometimes in the black community, because they help others of color, even to their own detriment.
Now, some posters i.e. andreisdaman, have posted things stating that white people need to realize that they suppressed black people for so long, that blacks are in a hole that they can't get out of, because they are so far behind. I would liken this to someone in immense credit card debt, where once in the hole, it is near impossible to stop digging. Now, how do we fix an issue like this? I don't know, but I am sure it starts with actually finishing school, waiting to get married to have kids, and working full time. Now I know this may be hard for some in that community, because it is all they know, but no one ever said life is easy, or fair for that matter. If you want something, you may just have to work harder to obtain it than someone else. A 5'4" guy is going to have a tougher time dunking a ball than someone over 6'. Is it fair? No, but it is life. I think that there needs to be an overhaul in the black community, that does not shame someone for being successful, speaking well, or "acting white".
Which brings me to my next point. I generally, when I encounter someone, do see their skin color, and may make assumptions prior to engaging with them. It's part of evolution, it's instinct. We have survived as a species because of intuition like this. Now, usually after the person starts speaking, and I realize that they are like me, the guard comes down and from then on I don't notice anything other than they are either A) cool to talk to, or B) trash. It's almost like in the movie "The Terminator", where he scans each individual as a threat/non threat. Also, I don't think of it as "acting white", I think of it as just being normal. I equate anyone who acts like they were raised in a civilized Western manner, as being okay. This goes for whites too. I had a guy try and talk to me about something (he saw I was successful and that he may be able to gain something from buddying up) and dropped the "N" word in front of me about Obama. I told him I wish he hadn't done that, and that it was in poor taste. What I wanted to say, was that just because you're white, doesn't make you anywhere near my level, and I view you as a subhuman. But, I didn't. I have no problem with a white person voting for a white candidate because that candidate is white, just as I have no problem with every black person voting for Obama because he was black.
Which brings me to my last point. There is no issue with having pride in ones race. If all things are equal, and instead of flipping a coin, you say you want to vote for someone who looks more like you, I am fine with that. We root for our Country in the Olympics, why not root for your race on a smaller level? This does need to be kept in check though. We all seem to get along on the micro level. A few white people hanging with a few black people. But, when in larger groups we tend to stick to our own, and follow the agendas of "us". This is bad, because it deviates from what is right at times. I said that I have no problem with someone voting a certain way, or rooting a certain way, if ALL THINGS ARE EQUAL, not blindly following. That is what I see a lot of today. Sheep blindly following people like Al, or whatever the white version of him is.
We need to put this stuff out in the open, and talk about it, not pretend it does/did not happen, and begin a healing process. You have only a blink of an eye on this planet, why make it shitty for anyone else, or yourself if you don't have to?
