Posted: Jul 25, 2015 9:38 am
Oldskeptic wrote:OlivierK wrote:Oldskeptic wrote:OlivierK wrote:Oldskeptic, your trite and overused harangue above ignores the fact that homicide rates are strongly linked with disadvantage, as is being black in America.
What a patronizing attitude. That's all it takes to justify young men killing other young men? Maybe the courts should consider allowing the 'disadvantaged defense' in murder trials?
Maybe you could explain to me exactly what you mean by 'disadvantaged'. Does it have something to do with being poor? There are an awful lot of poor white people. Does it have to do with being looked down upon? There are an awful lot of white people that are looked down upon by other white people, and for that matter there are black people that look down upon other black people, and black people that look down upon other types of people.
Doesn't matter that blacks, just as whites do, occupy every rung of the economic ladder, is all it takes to be disadvantaged is to be black? Bit of special pleading going on there, I think. Ever heard the term 'poor white trash'? I guarantee that the term didn't originate with black people.
There is no underclass that is comprised only of black people, or "people of color". But there is an economic underclass comprised of people of all "colors".
Where I went to junior high and high school we were mainly divided by Main Street. East side and West side. East side was synonymous with the right side and West side with the wrong side. My group of friends from my neighborhood was made up of people. People that I guess today you'd be obligated to further divide into blacks, whites, Hispanics, native Americans, and Asians, but that never really came up other than Kevin's mom was from Italy and made the best lasagna, Kenny's Dad was from East Los Angles and his grandparents were from Northern Mexico, and his Dad made the best beef burritos. Brian's grandparents were from Greece and us boys loved going to his house on holidays for stuffed squid and grape leaves, spanakopita and lemon rice. We didn't really hang out at Ray's house because his parents were Lutheran and pretty weird. Ronny's house was pretty interesting because his father was black and his mother was Italian. The other Kevin's parent's were both Irish and Catholic through and through, originally from Chicago. I was the Mormon in the group, a boy with little of an ethnic heritage worth noting except that I was descended from both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. And finally there was Ralph. Ralph was black and his parents were black, not brown or dark brown, they were black. Ralph stayed at the top of the academic list for all of high school, and senior year was elected student body president. He joined the police force after college, and eventually became police chief and then Mayor.
So, excuse me if I don't automatically see white prejudice of "race" as the motivating factor in all societal problems. I've been around the block a few times. Almost sixty years of watching things unfold, and I find it rather disappointing that simply asking someone where they are from or inquiring about their ethnic heritage is deemed racist now.
I remember when FM radio stations were new, and playing new music. Not white music or black music, just music. Jimmy Hendrix' Purple Haze followed by Van Morrison, followed by, Sly Stone or Stevie Wonder or George Clinton or the Chamberlain Brothers. Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple followed by Aretha or James Brown. James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot playing on the radio along side Santana and Joan Baez. The Who, angry young Britons juxtaposed to what, and identified with by who?
Maybe I'm just pining for the old days, the days of my youth, the way that I remember it. The way that I think it was and should have been and continue to be, the way that I think it should be now.
Pitting Black against White is not going to do anyone any good. It's a no win proposition except for the likes of Al Sharpton and fellow travelers who intend to cause animosity and outrage at any turn of events.
I stand on the sideline now, along with many others, and can declare honestly that I have never been racist or committed a racist act. Yet I am convicted of such only by my ethnic heritage. I am guilty by accident of birth.
Bollocks from start to end.
How dare you dismiss my experiences and feelings so callously?Strawmen everywhere, centred around a failure to distinguish correlation from causation, and anecdote from data,...
Are you questioning my anecdotes? I'm going to have to report you to the microaggression police. I'll have you know that my anecdotes are just as valid as anyone's. And it doesn't matter how unbelievable they are because they are mine and that makes them true, so there.
...ending with a completely false self-vicitmising conclusion.
Are you really questioning my victimhood? One more report to the microaggression police. This will go down on your permanent record.More than my time's worth to respond in greater detail. Beyond your irrelevant childhood anecdotes, pretty much every sentence that's on topic is wrong.
Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -Microaggression alert -!
You just invalidated my personal experiences and hurt my feelings, and I'm telling.
