Daring to be Different in the Black Community

The majority of the attacks on me toward was the discussion of slavery, or the little that they knew about it.

I briefly mentioned slavery in the OP and it is truly ridiculous to me how blacks today feel that their 'issues' are directly related to slavery.

No one today was alive during that period, so there is no direct correlation to anyone black nor white with it. And no white person owes any apology to any black person for slavery.

This is also something that is absurd to me, which is why I don't understand white guilt.

Originally posted by ButterCookie
Here's the thing: lots of black people seriously do not consider their racial remarks to be racist, and I don't know where this insanity came from.

We all saw it during the trial with the witness Rachel Jeantel,

but today I saw it with my father. He said 'Those (white racial slur) are gonna get what's coming to them!"

I said, "Dad, why are you being so racist?" He literally did not see that he had something offensive, and had wondered why I was 'taking up for white people'.

true insanity

I asked a couple of fellows (good guys by the way) to stop using the N-word at work. They looked at me as if I was on drugs.

"Why? Does it make you nervous?"

"No", was my reply, "but if I can't use it, why should you?"

Never got a answer but I never heard it again.

Originally posted by ButterCookie
The majority of the attacks on me toward was the discussion of slavery, or the little that they knew about it.

I briefly mentioned slavery in the OP and it is truly ridiculous to me how blacks today feel that their 'issues' are directly related to slavery.

No one today was alive during that period, so there is no direct correlation to anyone black nor white with it. And no white person owes any apology to any black person for slavery.

This is also something that is absurd to me, which is why I don't understand white guilt.

Figure out who's behind all of these things and then it gets interesting. If we all were to come together and address it at once, things would change around the planet instantly. We must stop taking the old 2-sides and start looking at the ones we (both) aren't allowed to address.

reply to post by ButterCookie


So much admiration for you and your courage to stand for your self and not just your race. A most inspiring and refreshing post.

I am an older (officially elder (white) but I will not subcome to that stereotype), who grew up mostly in rural Texas with whos family immigrated from Tn and Kentucky.

As a 12 year old (abt. 1957-58) I was living with my grandparents in a small community west of Fort Worth. This may have been around the time of the marches and talks of segregated/integrated schools. I recall my grandmother, who I was living with at the time in response to some comment I made telling me that "Blacks were not as good as us". I was confused and asked why. Don't recall the answer but I do recall rejecting it and saying something to the effect that "they were just people like us". I don't know where that came from, I just know it was instinctive in me.

My daughter's best friend is a black man from high school. Great guy who comes to all our get to gathers. He calls me Mom.

Saying that, there seems to be more blacks than whites hanging on to old traditional and culture and they are rallied by Sharpton, Jackson and, yes, even Obama. Instead of embracing the changes that have been made in the last 50 years, they pounce on anything that will continue to divide us. It is their power they want to maintain and that power should be rejected by everyone.

Considering Zimmerman/Martin. Martin was young, a little hot headed and wanted to get back at the man watching him...typical teenager. Zimmerman, a little too ambitious perhaps in a neighbor hood with many break ins. Both made mistakes.

ButterCookie, so much respect for you an your wisdom and the struggle you have with family and friends. May we all just embrace each other as humans traveling the earthly existence and continue to learn and grow.

This whole thread has taken a Hilarious Twist.

So many People are Praising the Op, a Black Women, for Basically Giving them Permission to be Racist, Because Blacks are Racist Too.

reply to post by ButterCookie


You have a lot of negative things to say about black people. You make a lot of generalizations based on your own limited life experiences while trying to validate your views by saying "I am saying this as a black". Your being black does not validate your views of other black people because you are only one person and you personally don't know most black people.

If you told me that you traveled the country and lived and worked in many different black communities, I could take your points of view and generalizations a little more seriously. Otherwise, I am left to conclude that A) you are not a black person, or B) you are a black person who wishes you were white because it would make your life easier.

reply to post by ButterCookie


OP I can very well understand your situation. During my middle school years a friend of mine use to have a racist teacher who happens to be African American. This man is very racist to not just whites but hispanics and Asians. In his lesson plans he would rants about how all whites are the oppressors. What's more appalling is he' has been teaching US History for so many years and never got fired when keep having all these racist behaviors.

There was one incident where a hispanic kid came into his classroom with his hood on and the teacher said "They ain't no Mexican Klans in here!"(Referring to the Ku Klux Klan because the kid was wearing a hood) when the guy isn't Mexican. He's basically saying all Hispanics are Mexicans.

In another incident there was this Asian girl who complained about the racism in the classroom and the teacher said something like get out you dirty Asian.

(I'm sorry if this violates T&C mods please feel free to remove if it's offensive I'm just trying to tell what my friend experienced)

reply to post by liveandlearn


Wow....

Blacks (in my situation) often get called back to the plantation. The same way that runaway slaves did....

Originally posted by ButterCookie
reply to post by liveandlearn

 

Wow....

Blacks (in my situation) often get called back to the plantation. The same way that runaway slaves did....

Sorry ButterCookie, I don't understand what you said. Are you saying your people are calling them back to the plantation, my grandmother was, or was it something else I said. Please explain since i didn't seem to get it as a child perhaps maybe I am still lost.

reply to post by ButterCookie


Just because the prosecution couldn't do a good job; doesn't mean justice was served.

There were no winners in this sad tragedy!

And ultimately the "losers" of this tragedy will be the Black Community.

You can see the disguised hatred and the reveling by some in the death of a black youth, even here at ATS.

God help us!

reply to post by liveandlearn



Oh, I was saying that a lot of blacks don't like how I am..how I don't participate in their racism, think like the crowd, ignore facts from history.

So they "call me back to the plantation"..

"Get back over here...You must be crazy to leave!!"

The same way that runaway slaves got told by the rest of the slaves.

reply to post by MaryStillToe


I see that you have caught interest in yet another thread of mine, this one.

I'm glad I peak your interest


Feel free to add comments relating to the OP.

Originally posted by MaryStillToe
reply to post by ButterCookie

 

You have a lot of negative things to say about black people. You make a lot of generalizations based on your own limited life experiences while trying to validate your views by saying "I am saying this as a black". Your being black does not validate your views of other black people because you are only one person and you personally don't know most black people.

If you told me that you traveled the country and lived and worked in many different black communities, I could take your points of view and generalizations a little more seriously. Otherwise, I am left to conclude that A) you are not a black person, or B) you are a black person who wishes you were white because it would make your life easier.

The negative things I have to say are real issues regarding black people. They are issues that black ATS'ers may not have a place or people to discuss them with, and I wanted to share the topic with people across the races. It's actually a social issue..

Its for discussion to examine possible underlying issues, and to allow those in my shoes not to feel alone or 'crazy' because they have 'dared to be different'.

It makes for positive discussion. I understand that some people may not be comfortable with this discussion because a black woman is the OP and "how dare she think different from the crowd; she must be a troll"....

I can relate in a way, though it seems you might have it a tad worse than me. I feel the heat from some of my extended family for living in "the white man's world", instead of on the rez with my people where I belong. It's worse too, because most people see me and would think I am a white guy. It does hurt a bit, but I have gotten a lot better at just letting ignorance slide off my shoulders. It's always harder to do that, the closer you are to the one saying these hurtful things.

Originally posted by MaryStillToe
reply to post by Tw0Sides

 

I've seen a number of the OP's threads and I usually ignore all of them because it's an obvious troll. Almost all of the posts mentions his/her race, but who does that? I suppose only a racist would.

I feel sorry for whoever it is because it's obvious that they are a miserable person who has wasted their life on an obsession that is unprofitable.

I disagree, if the color of you skin has been made a big deal of of most of your life then it is going to be in the forefront of your mind.
One of my closest friends is latino in a predominately white area of California and it is obvious by how much she talks about it, that the color of her skin frequently occupies her thoughts.

Originally posted by calstorm

Originally posted by MaryStillToe
reply to post by Tw0Sides

 

I've seen a number of the OP's threads and I usually ignore all of them because it's an obvious troll. Almost all of the posts mentions his/her race, but who does that? I suppose only a racist would.

I feel sorry for whoever it is because it's obvious that they are a miserable person who has wasted their life on an obsession that is unprofitable.

I disagree, if the color of you skin has been made a big deal of of most of your life then it is going to be in the forefront of your mind.
One of my closest friends is latino in a predominately white area of California and it is obvious by how much she talks about it, that the color of her skin frequently occupies her thoughts.

edit on 15-7-2013 by calstorm because: (no reason given)

It is obvious to me that she is a person that has taken a stand for herself as her own person but has yet to find true acceptance in any community.

reply to post by ButterCookie

I grew up a few states from where you did. I had black friends, white friends and even half asian cousins. I was raised with the understanding there is no bad race. There is good in all races and bad in all races. Judge the person by whats inside of them.

I grew up got married to a guy in the service. Moved to a lot of different places. All the time making friends of all colors but not seeing their colors. Many were people that touched my heart and my life and helped me grow. I thought the whole country was this way. I lived in Texas thought it was part of the south. Until I moved to Alabama.

I understand what you mean about Memphis. Alabama and Georgia seem to be the same way. I'm white and never thought that a problem with black people. I got my eyes opened really quick down here. They took no time to get to know me. Being a blonde haired white woman made me feel like a poster child for hatred. I do have some really dear friends that are black. One of the first black friends I met came from the state of Washington. I asked her if it was just me or was it different down here with blacks and whites. She said she didn't understand it either. She'd never seen so much hatred like many of the blacks seem to have because of a persons skin color.

There's many days down here I come home and thank God for bringing the blacks he has into my life since I was a child. He proved my Fathers words right about good and bad in each race. If those people hadn't came into my life the way many of the blacks down here treat white people I could probably find myself as racist because of it.

I'm glad you got to live in a place where skin color didn't matter and you could be friends with who you liked because of what they were on the inside. I'm sorry for what you have to go thru with your family. It's people like you that can and do make the difference.

I understand what the OP is talking about.. My son was one of 28 white students in a school with an enrolment of over 1200 students.. Last week we were talking about how much he had to deal with in the way of racial hostility and he shrugged it off as being nothing compared to some of his black friends that didn't go with the flow and had names like Johnny or Bobby... I remember being in sickbay one morning in Okinawa in 1969 when I saw a black Marine that had been with the company I'd last served with in Vietnam.. The poor kid had been beaten all to hell and said it was done by other black Marines because he was a "flaky brother" and hung around with white Marines.. He was a really good guy and seeing him that way made me want to cry... Where I was in Vietnam there was nothing but mountains and jungle so we had very little use for 106mm recoilless rifles except when on the Laotian Border for a couple of months.. There were some black guys that had been picked up by Black Panther Party members at Camp Pendleton during training and indoctrinated by them in LA... They just couldn't be trusted to follow orders in an infantry company so they were attached to the 106 unit that stayed with the battalion command post to prevent them from screwing up and being killed.. In Okinawa after we were redeployed there I was in the squad bay for communication people and the other squad bay was filled up with all of the 106 guys all of which was black guys... We had one black radio operator that we had to fight to protect from those guys all of the time because he didn't have anything in common with them other than skin color.... There were a lot of racial incidents there on the island and even an issue of Life Magazine had a large article about it in the fall of 1969 but the black on black incidents were never mentioned..